Entertainment outlet patrons top list of S.O.P. offenders

KUALA LUMPUR: The weekend saw patrons of entertainment outlets topping the list of offenders caught for violating movement restrictions’ standard operating procedure (SOP).

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri

Yaakob said of the 181 offenders nabbed on Sunday, 93 were slapped with compounds, 80 were remanded and another eight were released on bail.

The offences included activities at entertainment outlets (106), failure to practise physical distancing (35), premises failing to provide materials for patrons to register (24), gambling (eight), not wearing face masks (five), attempting interdistrict or interstate travel without permission (two), and premises operating after permitted operating hours (one).

“Yesterday (Sunday), the SOP Compliance Task Force headed by the police conducted 66,337 inspections at 7,213 restaurants, 4,720 supermarkets, 2,729 banks, 3,979 hawkers, 105 markets, 2,509 factories and 779 government offices.

“They also inspected 168 places of worship, 16,985 recreational spots, 3,319 land transport terminals, 1,802 marine transport terminals and 712 air transport terminals.

“Op Benteng saw the arrests of 59 illegal immigrants yesterday (Sunday), as well as the seizure of four boats or ships and five land vehicles. The authorities detected 39 boats or ships in the country’s waters through seven sightings,” he said yesterday.

The security agencies involved, he said, mounted 266 roadblocks nationwide on Sunday.

Ismail Sabri said the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Fire and Rescue Department had conducted 54 sanitisation exercises in 17 red zones, five orange zones, 13 yellow zones and one green zone.

Since March 20 last year, he said 19,251 sanitisation operations had been conducted in 150 zones.

On quarantine measures, he said all 873 returnees who arrived from abroad on Sunday had been instructed to begin mandatory quarantine at quarantine centres nationwide.

He said 7,101 people were undergoing quarantine, while 143,095 had been discharged and 1,104 people were taken to hospitals for treatment.

The Construction Industry Development Board inspected eight construction sites and found that all adhered to the SOP.

Ismail Sabri said the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry had made 693 checks on 11 essential items, which comprised retailers (541), wholesalers (122) and manufacturers (30).

The ministry made 2,165 inspections and found all premises were adhering to the SOP.

Regarding the screening of foreign workers, he said 640,997 foreign workers had undergone Covid-19 screening tests and 9,960 tested positive.

“Yesterday (Sunday), 2,449 foreign nationals did the screening and 10 of them tested positive.

“Up to now, 1,534 clinics are involved in the screening programme, which is mandatory for all foreign workers starting Feb 1.”