Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has called for increased vigilance and standard operating procedures (SOPs) adherence among Malaysia, amid the gradual reopening of businesses.

In a tweet yesterday, Noor Hisham reminded that the government has allowed dine-in facilities for fully vaccinated people at restaurants in states under Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), purely due to economic considerations.

"A reminder to all, many places are opening because of economy and not because it is safe. Please keep that in mind; please wear a mask, double masks if possible, practice physical distancing and frequent hand-washing."
He further urged the public to continue avoiding crowded and confined spaces, and get vaccinated the soonest possible.

Yesterday, caretaker prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that dine-in is allowed for fully vaccinated individuals in states currently under Phase 1 of the NRP from today, after taking into account that more than 50 per cent of the country's adult population have been fully vaccinated.

Despite the government, many eateries in the Klang Valley are cautious about reopening for dine-in patrons, reported Free Malaysia Today, citing that many of the restaurant workers are yet to be fully vaccinated.

Record number of COVID-19 numbers are reported on a daily basis, with a whopping 22,948 new cases logged yesterday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1.48 million.

As for deaths, 178 deaths were reported yesterday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 13,480.


Photo source: Free Malaysia Today.