GEORGE TOWN – Penang will set up 39 roadblocks during the movement control order (MCO) period from tomorrow to January 26.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, in a statement issued after he chaired a special state-level National Security Council meeting here, reminded the people that it is a “war” that the state must win, and to achieve victory, there must be full compliance with standard operating procedures.
The roadblocks will be mounted by police, the military, People’s Volunteer Corps and Civil Defence Force, he said.
Chow added that Penang is now battling its third Covid-19 wave, with the disease spreading largely among the state’s foreign workers.
However, it was reported this week that a pastor from a local church has also contracted the virus.
Chow urged residents to fully cooperate and abide by MCO rules, saying the recent spike in infections has almost paralysed the nation’s public healthcare system.
He said Penang will heed Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s directive on the MCO.
There are now eight active clusters in the state, with 4,756 infections recorded since March last year.
Chow said Penang has proposed two sites as low-risk quarantine and treatment centres that can accommodate 1,000 beds.
“They are at the Mara excellence centre in Jawi, Nibong Tebal, and the Penang Pesta site in Sg Nibong on the island.”
He urged state health authorities to liaise with the northern chapter of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers to have factory workers, both local and foreign, including undocumented ones, tested for Covid-19.
There are 100 private clinics in Penang that have offered to provide immunisation for free.
Boosting the public healthcare system is important, said Chow, as only by containing the virus can the country work towards resuscitating the economy. – The Vibes, January 12, 2021
