KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 – The government has allowed companies under the economic sectors which have been permitted to operate during the Movement Control Order (MCO) to resume full operations starting tomorrow as the country enters recovery phase in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said however, the companies must adhere to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which had been set according to their respective sectors.
“Failure to comply with the SOP will result in the immediate revocation of the permission to operate and legal action will be taken,” he said in a statement today.
Mohamed Azmin said companies which have been authorised to operate earlier do not have to reapply for the ministry’s permission to operate.
“This initiative will help to boost the recovery of the supply chain for products and services to meet local and international demand, and will have a positive impact on the companies’ revenues, especially for the small and medium-sized enterprises.
“While the government has eased up on the restrictions, the people and industry owners must adapt to the ‘new normal’ by ensuring social distancing at the workplace, maintaining good personal hygiene and complying with the health control guidelines,” he added.
Malaysia entering recovery phase
The economic sector is encouraged to return functioning as normal as the country is now entering the recovery phase, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Nonetheless, he stressed that there conditions attached among them is the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the Health Ministry (MOH).
He said among the SOP is screening of body temperature, ensuring sufficient space for workers and no gathering allowed while the practice of social distancing as well as good hygiene such as frequent hand washing or use of sanitizer should be adopted by all.
“These are the new normals we want Malaysians to practise and not just during the Movement Control Order (MCO) but after the MCO as well,” he told the daily COVID-19 media conference here today.
“We are opening up in phases, priority is given to construction and big industries. Then we will open up the services sector slowly but surely,” he added.
Elaborating further, Dr Noor Hisham said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had earlier declared the Public Health Emergency of International Concern, based on three factors namely death, infection and economy.
“So we see Malaysia has the three factors. During the initial stage in the middle of April, we expected the cases to rise drastically. At that time, we are not sure if there is an exponential surge but it did not happen.
“That week we were cautious in our action. But now we are in recovery phase and as such we could encourage the economic sector to function like normal,” he said.
-BERNAMA
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