Bangkok ------------- A total of 661 people were arrested in Malaysia on Sunday for allegedly breaking rules aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Defence Minister Ismail Yaakob  has said. 

Malaysia has officially reported about 11,000 COVID - 19 cases and 134 related deaths.

Yakoob spoke at a news conference in Bangkok Monday.

Accotding to him, the offences include businesses not recording customer contact details for tracing purposes, breaches of mask wearing and social distancing requirements as well as, “activities in pubs and nightclubs.”

He further said that  577 people were arrested for attending illicitly reopened bars and clubs.

Since the end of Malaysia’s seven-week coronavirus-induced  lockdown in May, there have been dozens to hundreds of daily arrests over breaches of the remaining measures.

At least 23,000 arrests were made during the lockdown, which saw police checkpoints reinforced by soldiers.

However, most businesses have now been reopened to reinvigorate the economy, but pubs and nightclubs remain closed even as the borderis are also to remain closed to visitors until December 31, 2020, at the earliest.

This was even as the manufacturing and plantation businesses reliant on migrant labour have complained of a recruitment freeze caused by the restrictions just like tourism, which accounted for 15 per cent of gross domestic product in 2019, has also been hit.

Meanwhile, the government is promoting internal travel in a bid to make up for the ban on most foreign arrivals.