CORONAVIRUS | There will be no Ramadan bazaars across the country as long as the movement control order (MCO) is in effect, senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.
Ramadan is expected to start on April 23, just a week after the movement control order period is supposed to end on April 14.
The defence minister said, however, should the MCO not be extended, a new standard operating procedure would be prepared.
This will include the issue of whether the bazaars should be allowed.
“As I said yesterday, it (Ramadan bazaars this year) was just a suggestion by Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
“We decided in the meeting this morning that as long as the MCO is in effect, all Ramadan bazaars will not be permitted. However, if the MCO is ended, the National Security Council (NSC) will prepare a post-MCO SOP,” Ismail said during a press conference today.
The issue became a concern after Federal Territories minister Annuar Musa was reported by Bernama to have said on Tuesday that the Ramadan bazaars this year would be modified to prevent crowd congestion in light of the Covid-19 outbreak.
This caused concern as Malaysia is taking various social distancing efforts, including imposing the four-week MCO, in an attempt to flatten the coronavirus epidemiological curve and break the spread of infections.
However, the minister later said he had been misquoted as no decision on the matter had been reached as yet and it was still being discussed.
Indeed, The Star has quoted him as merely saying he wanted proposals on a revised format for Ramadan bazaars.
However, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said that bazaars could be held during Ramadan if they follow the ministry's guidelines to ensure social distancing and good hygiene.
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