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PETALING JAYA: The Ministry of Health proposes that the economic sectors be opened first before making a decision on when schools and social sectors will reopen, says the general director of Health, Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah (Photo)
He said the ministry was seeking guidelines for child care centers, personal exercise and schools, before considering allowing them to resume operations.
“Regarding schools, the Ministry of Health suggested and proposed that we start first with the economic sectors.
“The (reopening) of the social and educational sectors will be delayed a bit.
“Let the economic sectors begin, and we monitor the situation for two or even four weeks, before we can decide or propose that the social and educational sectors be reopened,” he said at a daily press conference on Wednesday (April 29) .
To a question about personal exercise, such as jogging, Dr. Hisham said that the issue of exercise was also part of the standard operating procedure that was being discussed.
“There will be no close contact sports. Exercise will be considered, provided they follow our guiding principles, which are social distancing and not public meeting, “he said.
On the issue of child care centers, he said the matter will be discussed with the National Security Council (NSC).
“Every morning we have a meeting together. We are investigating the matter and we are considering it.
“But the important thing is that we must have guidelines from the Ministry of Health, whether it is about nurseries, restaurants or institutions.
“The guidelines are ready, and if the child care center can meet the guidelines, there will be no problem,” he said.
He stressed that the companies or economic sectors allowed to operate must strictly comply with the guidelines established by the Ministry of Health, and that the announcement to reopen other economic sectors will be made in the future.
“We are seeking to facilitate the movement control order (MCO), but (companies) must follow the guiding principles of the Ministry of Health.
“We have provided the guiding principles, and we are now in the process of investigating SOPs from all sectors.
“The announcement will be made soon,” he said.
Dr. Hisham said that the green areas in the country free of Covid-19 would be identified before authorities considered implementing a soft landing approach for those locations.
“Apart from Perlis, there are other areas (mukim) that are totally green before and during phases one, two and three of the MCO,” he said.
Before considering the implementation of a soft landing approach for such areas, the criteria established prior to this would have to be met, Dr. Hisham said, adding that the most important criterion would be community empowerment.
“We may need a week before the standard operating procedure is ready, and when the Ministry of Health has reviewed it and is satisfied with it, perhaps we can implement it (soft landing).
“But as of now, we have not made a decision on this,” he said.
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