The three MPs who are currently under home quarantine after coming into contact with COVID-19 cases will be allowed to attend the next Budget Supply Bill voting in Parliament, the Speaker ruled today. r

According to Azhar Harun, the three lawmakers - namely Dr Adham Baba (Tenggara), M Saravanan (Tapah), and P Prabakaran (Batu), will be escorted in an ambulance to the House, and be clad in full personal protective equipment (PPE) while in Parliament.

"If they want to vote, they need to put on a new PPE set and they will come into the public gallery where their votes will be taken, where the vote counter and witnesses will be made to use visors.

"After the voting, they will be made to leave the gallery so we limit with their contact with the rest," Malay Mail quoted Azhar saying.

Azhar was answering a question from Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, who had asked about the leeway given by the Health Ministry to MPs who are under the home surveillance order (HSO), to attend Parliament.

The three lawmakers also have to get prior permission from Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah before turning up at the House, he added.

Adham Baba, who is also Health Minister, announced on Dec 9 that he was under home quarantine for two weeks after he came into contact with a private media practitioner, who later tested positive for COVID-19.

Saravanan, who is the Human Resources Minister, meanwhile, started his two-weeks home quarantine last Friday after he came into contact with Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) chief executive Shahul Hameed Dawood, who tested positive for the disease.

As of yesterday, there are a total of 83,475 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, with 415 deaths.

The coronavirus has infected more than 72.6 million people, and killed over 1.61 million people, worldwide.


Source: Malay Mail
Photo source: Astro Awani