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17 Foreigners Found Grocery Shopping Instead Of Being Quarantined At Home

They were slapped with a RM1,000 fine each.

Cover image via Astro Awani & Shafwan Zaidon/Malay Mail

17 foreigners have been slapped with a RM1,000 fine each for violating the Home Surveillance Order (HSO) after they were found shopping at a hypermarket in Labuan, Sabah

According to Malaysiakini, photos of the 17 sailors grocery shopping while still wearing the COVID-19 quarantine wristbands went viral on WhatsApp on Tuesday, 21 July, prompting the Labuan Health Department to conduct a probe.

Image for illustration purposes only.

Image via Shafwan Zaidon/Malay Mail

The Labuan Health Department director Dr Ismuni Bohari said a report on the violation was received while they were still buying food items at the hypermarket

"We immediately conducted an investigation and found them to have breached the HSO by patronising a business and public premise while under quarantine," he said, as reported by Malay Mail.

"All of them were undergoing the 12th day of their quarantine at several gazetted hotels on the island and were scheduled to undergo a second COVID-19 test the following day."

Image for illustration purposes only.

Image via Astro Awani

The violators were compounded under Regulation 7(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Regulations 2020

They paid their fines of RM1,000 each on Wednesday, 22 July.

Dr Ismuni advised the public, especially those undergoing quarantine, not to remove the COVID-19 home quarantine wristband and to fully comply with government orders as the pandemic was far from over.

Previously, the authorities were looking for a total of 63 individuals who were seen wearing the COVID-19 quarantine tag in public:

The government has decided to forgo home quarantine and reimpose quarantine in designated hotels and centres beginning 24 July:

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