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PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Health hopes that an amendment to the Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Act of 1988 (Law 342) can soon be made to give more force to the application of its Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP).
Commenting on the possibility of having elections at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic is at an all-time high, Health Director General Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham said the ministry is concerned about non-compliance with the SOP by the general public.
“It is time for us to review Law 342 as it was enacted in 1988. At that time, we did not expect to have a pandemic of this scale. At this time, the proposed amendment to Law 342 is in the hands of the Attorney General. We hope that it can be done as soon as possible to give us more powers, ”he said.
Currently, the provisions of Law 342 are what the government uses to enforce its SOPs to the public during the Covid-19 outbreak.
On the possibility of an election, Dr. Noor Hisham said that if left to the Ministry of Health, the election should be postponed.
“If it is left to the ministry, we would prefer that we can delay this if we had the power to do so. We have developed SOPs for the elections and it was used during the Chini and Slim by-elections, as well as during the Sabah state elections, “he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said this at the ministry’s Covid-19 press conference here on Friday (Oct 30).
Sarawak’s state elections are looming as they are due to be held in July next year.
Speculation also abounds about the possibility of calling early general elections.
Dr. Noor Hisham said that if an election cannot be avoided, the ministry recommends that several standard operating procedures be applied, including a ban on large gatherings, walks and travel between districts.
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