LANGKAWI – A tourism association has called on the National Security Council and Health Ministry to formulate new standard operating procedures as the country transitions into the endemic phase of Covid-19.
This comes after two hotels in Penang and Langkawi suffered a spate of infections despite the SOPs currently in place.
More than 70 cases have been confirmed despite the majority of tourism workers being fully vaccinated.
Langkawi Business Association president Datuk Issac Alexander said it is timely to revise the SOPs to make them compatible with the current health situation.
The revised rules can also act as a guide for businesses at the onset of the endemic stage.
“We are hovering more towards the endemic stage, which the government announced as part of the National Recovery Plan, but we need to work harder to contain an outbreak,” Alexander told The Vibes.
At present, more than 80% of adults registered with MySejahtera are fully vaccinated.
The endemic stage will likely see more self-testing and new initiatives introduced by tourism operators, said Alexander.
He said these include the better use of sanitisation equipment to entice employers to incorporate self-testing in their operations.
We are also hoping that the authorities can reduce the price of self-test kits from the present RM19.99 to below RM10. If the kits are made more affordable, employees can undertake more self-testing as we edge towards the endemic stage.”
It is unfortunate that there are Covid-19 cases at hotels, but this also shows that the virus is difficult to detect, especially when it is in the community, he said.
Malaysian Association of Hotels’ Kedah and Perlis chapter chairman Eugene Dass said the group is keen to liaise with the authorities on fine-tuning the SOPs for the endemic stage.
He said hoteliers are open to suggestions on how to improve the rules at the workplace, and for workers to boost their immunity levels against the virus.
Among the suggestions mooted by Penang health exco Dr Norlela Ariffin is that employees should not dine together when working, given that they have to remove their masks to eat.
Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor today gave an assurance that the Covid-19 outbreak at hotels will not affect tourism here.
He said all measures have been taken to contain transmission and protect Langkawi’s status as the destination chosen for Malaysia’s first travel bubble.
“We are grateful that with the travel bubble pilot project, tourism is reopened,” he said after receiving a courtesy call from Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid at Wisma Darul Aman in Alor Star. – The Vibes, October 5, 2021
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