He said among the countries in the list were the United States, Brazil, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Bangladesh.
This is in addition to the three countries announced previously, namely India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“We will add more countries deemed high-risk, that is those with more than 150,000 positive cases, to the list. Their citizens will be barred (from entering Malaysia).
“However, for emergency cases or where it involves bilateral relations, such as if a person needs to come for a meeting between countries, we will allow entry.
“Permission from the Immigration Department must be obtained first,” he told reporters after chairing the Special Committee Meeting on Embracing New Norms Campaign here today.
He added the health ministry would be announcing the detailed list of countries which had recorded more than 150,000 positive cases of Covid-19.
Last Tuesday, Ismail announced an entry ban on long-term pass holders from India, Indonesia and the Philippines beginning Sept 7 due to a spike in Covid-19 cases in those countries.
The ban involves six categories of pass holders, namely those with permanent resident status (PR), Malaysia My Second Home Programme (MM2H) participants, expatriates, including those with professional visit passes (PVP), and resident pass holders.
Also barred were spouses of Malaysian citizens and their children as well as students from the three countries who wanted to return to Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Ismail said the government will continue to allow Malaysians from high-risk countries to return home but they will be subjected to the 14-day mandatory quarantine as stipulated in the standard operating procedures (SOP).
On the Embracing New Norms Campaign, he said it would be carried out until Dec 31 to ensure the people continued to adhere to the SOPs in order to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The senior minister said various campaigns would be carried out at shopping malls, social media and print media to ensure the SOP compliance remained at the highest level.
“As for now, the SOP compliance is high as Act 342 (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988) is in force and the police can carry out the enforcement.
“We want the people to keep practising the SOPs, such as wearing a face mask, frequently washing their hands and maintaining physical distance,” he said.