by S BIRRUNTHA/ pic by RAZAK GHAZALI

THE government has approved the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for Parliament sitting under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), taking into consideration the new normal amid the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the special ministerial committee on the MCO approved the SOPs.

“Among the SOPs that were agreed upon include the use of face masks and hand sanitisers, as well as arranging a one-metre social distancing for seating during the parliamentary meetings.

“All involved including MPs, government officers and media practitioners must go through a registration process using the MySejahtera app and temperature checks before entering the building,” he said in a statement yesterday.

However, Ismail Sabri added that only MPs, their respective aides and officers would be allowed entry into the meeting halls while government officers and reporters are only allowed into the Parliament building.

The Dewan Rakyat sitting will be held for 25 days from July 13 to Aug 27, while the Dewan Negara for 11 days from Sept 2 to Sept 23.

On the latest Covid-19 development, the country recorded six new Covid-19 cases yesterday involving four import cases and two local transmissions.

Health DG Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the four import cases were all Malaysians who were infected abroad.

The locally transmitted cases were detected during a workplace screening in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor respectively.

“No new cases involving foreigners were recorded yesterday,” he said.

The new cases yesterday have brought the country’s overall total to 8,674.

Currently, there are 72 active Covid-19 cases left being treated at health facilities nationwide.

Among the active cases, two were in the intensive care unit with both under ventilator support.

Similarly, five patients have recovered yesterday, increasing the percentage of discharged cases to 8,481 or 97.8% of the total cases.

The streak of no new deaths continues with the country’s death tally remaining at 121.

Separately, Dr Noor Hisham said the implementation of the Home Surveillance Order (HSO) on individuals returning from abroad has effectively controlled the transmission of Covid-19 among family members.

He added that the government enforced the HSO as a measure of control and prevention of the Covid-19 infection that could spread from imported cases to the community.

Since the implementation of the HSO on April 3, he said the ministry had detected 647 positive cases among travellers, including Malaysians and permanent residents.

“We are pleased to announce that since the implementation of the HSO, there has been no transmission cases reported among Covid-19 positive family members after undergoing quarantine at their homes.

“At that time, the government required all individuals returning from abroad to undergo a 14-day quarantine at quarantine centres which were gazetted throughout Malaysia.

“However, starting June 10, the government has allowed Malaysians returning from abroad to undergo their quarantine at home,” he added.

While acknowledging that the HSO was an effective move, he said it still depends on the individual compliance with the HSO guidelines to avoid risk of infection in the community.