In a joint press conference with health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah for the first time, Ismail also said the various SOPs would be published on each ministry’s website while a uniform list of SOPs for the entire country would be published on the National Security Council’s (MKN) portal.
“All ministries have also been instructed to activate their own hotlines so the public can get information in regard to the specific SOPs by the ministry,” said Ismail.
He also gave an assurance that the third nationwide movement control order (MCO 3.0), which comes into effect tomorrow, will be similar to MCO 2.0 but with some stricter rules.
Commenting on the frequent changes in SOPs, Ismail said it was because the rules had to be set according to the current situation.
However, he said the rules for MCO 3.0 would not be as stringent as the first MCO in March last year, as the government did not want to jeapordise the people’s livelihoods.
“I wish to clarify that in our efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19, the government takes this issue seriously,” he said.
“Whenever we introduce new SOPs, it goes through a few stages and is not just announced on the spot, as seen on television.”
According to Ismail, each ministry would recommend several SOPs to a technical committee, which would then be presented in the special MKN meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
“Every decision made is based on presentations and advice from the health ministry. Once an agreement is reached, then we announce it publicly,” he said, adding that the MKN meeting was now held three times weekly, instead of once a week.
Muhyiddin previously announced the implementation of a three-week nationwide MCO from tomorrow, with all social activities including Hari Raya visits banned.
The announcement of the nationwide MCO, the third since March last year, comes in the wake of a surge of Covid-19 infections, with daily case numbers reaching more than 4,000 in recent days.
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