by S BIRRUNTHA/ pic by RAZAK GHAZALI

DRIVE-IN cinemas may be opening in Malaysia soon, if the operators adhere to the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said both the Communications and Multimedia Ministry and the Housing and Local Government Ministry would set up and refine the SOPs.

He added that the special ministerial committee on the Movement Control Order (MCO) would be granting the approval for the drive-in cinemas.

“The authorities have approved the request for drive-in cinemas to operate as long as they observe the provided SOPs.

“The SOPs will include ensuring all visitors remain in their respective vehicles, and food orders will be done and picked up through online services,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The People’s Volunteer Corps personnel would be stationed at the locations to monitor and control the movement of the drive-in cinemagoers.

Ismail Sabri said those activities may take place in closed venues and with a limit of 250 people at one time.

Since July 1, the government has allowed all cinemas, theatres and live-event operators to resume operation.

Separately, the country recorded six new Covid-19 cases yesterday, all of which were imported cases.

Health DG Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (picture) said the imported cases involved five Malaysians and one permanent resident who were all infected abroad.

“No local Covid-19 infections were reported for the second consecutive day,” he said in his Covid-19 statement yesterday.

The new cases brought the country’s overall total to 8,683. Currently, there are only 63 active Covid-19 cases being treated at health facilities nationwide.

Among the active cases yesterday, two were placed in the intensive care unit with one of them requiring respiratory aid.

Thirteen patients have recovered yesterday, increasing the numbers of recovered cases to 8,499 (97.8%).

No new deaths were recorded as the country’s death tally remains at 121.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham also announced the end of another Covid-19 cluster yesterday, the Kuala Lumpur-based cleaning company cluster.

“The cluster was first detected after 10 foreign workers were screened,” he said.

As of yesterday, 33 individuals from this cluster consisting of 16 Malaysians and 17 foreigners have been screened. Of the total, four were found to be Covid-19 positive, which were three employees and a close-contact case. All of them are Indonesians.

This Kuala Lumpur-based cleaning company cluster is one of 15 work-related clusters that were detected and reported by the Health Ministry.

Currently, four work-related clusters are still active in the country.

This includes the Kuala Lumpur 2 construction site, Pedas, another cleaning company and the Kuching construction site.

Dr Noor Hisham said employers are responsible for ensuring that their employees are adhering to the SOPs and implementing preventive measures at their workplaces.

He added that this is especially crucial for industries that employ large numbers of foreign employees.

“This will prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection among the workers and in turn prevent the spread into the community,” he added.