GEORGE TOWN – Penang has no plans in emulating what Kedah and Kelantan had proposed which is to bar any outsider resident from entering their respective states for now due to the need to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow instead called on states not to resort to blame games over the continued rise in the virus cases, saying that he was also unsure if what the state governments in Kedah and Kelantan are doing are legal.
This was after Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor blamed Penang for importing 77 cases to Kedah yesterday, through factory workers iin the state.
“As the leaders, we need to cooperate with one another and not point fingers and make unprofessional remarks. Penang has never made such remarks against neighbouring states that brought in cases into our confines. When that happens, we go all out to help,” he told a press briefing here.
Chow also questioned Sanusi’s 77 cases remark.
He said the State Health Department data showed only 13 cases imported into Kedah and Perak to date, all of which were from the Bayan cluster.
Sanusi was reported as saying that the 77 cases were from the Bayan, Permatang, Intan and Alma clusters in Penang.
Sanusi claimed that when many factories closed in Penang, all workers decided to go back to their hometowns in Kedah, instead of undergoing a quarantine.
In response, Chow said what Kedah and Kelantan aspire to do needs clarification from the relevant authorities.
Chow also said that it is up to the Health Ministry to be more transparent on the data it has in view of the complaints by the people who are confused over the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO measures and where the clusters were located.
Kelantan has mooted the concept of handing out green and red bangles to visitors arriving at its borders to ascertain if they come from red or green zones within the country.
The state has also reportedly discouraged those from red zones from entering from other East Coast States.
Currently, only Perlis, Kelantan and Pahang have not been placed under the CMCO exercise, which bars any inter-district travel unless special permission is sought from the police and health authorities.
Penang has 1,421 cases and seven clusters to date.
A total of 12,000 people were screened as of Tuesday in the various clusters, said State Local Government committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo.
Jagdeep also pledged to check on the housing for foreign workers to ensure that these premises were following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). – The Vibes, November 2020
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