The government does not rule out reverting to stricter standard operating procedures to curb Covid-19, says Ismail Sabri



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PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry will recommend whether the rules and standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be strengthened again to curb the spread of Covid-19, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The defense minister said that since interstate travel was allowed, health authorities have been making evaluations every two weeks on the effects of relaxing this regulation.

“The government will receive the advice and recommendations of the Ministry of Health. If you feel we need to re-impose restrictions, we will listen to you.

“But for now, the ministry has not advised the National Security Council on this, but we are not ruling it out,” he said on Monday (December 28).

Ismail Sabri cited an example where a loose regulation had been repealed, where the government had prevented returnees from abroad from undergoing home quarantine.

“When we allowed this, there were people who violated the regulations. Some had left, others threw away their pink wristbands.

“After several incidents, the authorities decided to revert to the old regulation that returnees undergo mandatory quarantine at government-designated stations instead of allowing them to undergo home quarantine,” he said.

Ismail Sabri said it is important for the public to adhere to standard operating procedures at all times so that when health authorities inform the council about the Covid-19 situation, they trust that, despite allowing the public to travel, the number of positive cases would not increase because of it.



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