Govt puts people’s interests at the forefront in formulating the SOPs

by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH / pic by BERNAMA

ECONOMIC sectors are allowed to open during the third implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO 3.0) with stricter standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (picture) said the latest move will not be similar to the first MCO as the government is taking into consideration the livelihoods of the masses, particularly the groups that depend on daily income.

“As the coronavirus progresses, the government has to take immediate action with MCO 3.0 to curb its spread, taking into consideration the health reports we receive daily.

“The government understands the difficulties faced by the people, especially those who are depending on daily income,” he said during a joint press conference with Health DG Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday.

In implementing MCO 3.0, he said there is only one set of SOPs to be implemented amid the confusion of the constantly updated SOPs in the past week.

Ismail Sabri added that the government puts people’s interests at the forefront in formulating the SOPs, particularly in the aspect of the cost of living while maintaining the health aspect.

He urged Malaysians to refer to the Malaysian National Security Council’s website for the updated SOPs, while the economic sectors may refer to the related ministries’ website for updates on business operations.

Commenting on the public’s doubt on the government’s seriousness in monitoring the SOPs among the business community, Ismail Sabri said 70 factories have been ordered to close for violating SOP since last year.

“Last year, most of the cases in the workplace occurred due to overcrowded workers’ housing and after looking at the issue, we introduced amendments to the Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodation and Employees’ Facilities Act 1990 (Act 446) and ordered for comfortable accommodation to be provided by employers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said three out of the four Covid-19 variants of concern recognised by the World Health Organisation have been detected in Malaysia.

The three variants — South Africa, the UK and India — have been detected in both local and imported cases, while the fourth variant from Brazil has yet to be detected in the country.

“Malaysia is concerned about these variants as they have a high transmission rate and high fatality rate,” he said.

Yesterday, 3,973 new cases were detected, bringing the cumulative active cases in the country to 38,499.

Another 2,848 patients have recovered, while 453 cases were referred to the intensive care unit with 244 patients needing respiratory assistance.

Twenty-two deaths were recorded, all of which were Malaysian citizens.

Thirteen clusters were detected, totalling the number of active clusters to 454.