Senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said however that there have been no mass entries from the island republic so far.
Speaking at a press conference here today, he said the average number of Malaysians crossing the border so far was 400 a day.
He assured that the 22 quarantine centres in Johor Bahru and nearby cities are still enough to accommodate such numbers.
“At quarantine centres in Johor, there are people who have ended their quarantine periods and have been allowed to go home – about 350 people a day are allowed to go home.
“For now, we are still able to accommodate them.”
Should mass arrivals occur, though, he said the National Disaster Management Agency had been told to prepare 4,000 more rooms at centres in Johor Bahru and the surrounding areas, even as far as Melaka.
He said the government is looking to increase total quarantine capacity to 10,000 rooms in total.
A total of 16,844 Malaysians are still undergoing mandatory isolation at 193 centres across the country.
Meanwhile, Ismail said the National Security Council meeting today had agreed to shorten operating hours at the Johor-Singapore causeway entry point from the Sultan Iskandar customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) building, from 24 hours to 12 hours. Opening hours are now 7am to 7pm.
These hours will also apply to commercial vehicles.
The Malaysia-Singapore Second Link at the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex will operate for 24 hours as usual, including for commercial vehicles.
“So if there are emergencies or a need for Malaysians to come home after the Johor-Singapore causeway is closed, they can use the second link if there are emergencies such as deaths,” Ismail said.
As of yesterday, he said, 16,870 people had been arrested for flouting the movement control order (MCO).
A total of 946 were arrested yesterday, 822 of whom were remanded. A further 124 are out on police bail while 101 have been charged in court.
He said 824 roadblocks have been held with 603,314 vehicles and 6,127 premises checked nationwide.
A total of 3,040 areas including government buildings, public spaces, business centres and supermarkets have been sanitised since March 30 in 107 zones including 30 in red zones.
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