Kedah seeks EMCO for Kulim

ALOR STAR: The Kedah government will submit an application for an enhanced movement control order (EMCO) to be implemented in Kulim due to a new cluster in the district.

Mentri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said the Bayam Indah cluster was detected on Nov 21, and as of Tuesday a total of 50 positive Covid-19 cases linked to it had been detected.

It is feared that if the virus is not contained, it will spread further within the industrial area, he added.

“Our concern is that it will spread to other industrial areas as in Selangor, affecting factory production. The Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) is located in the area, so we want to take care of this area as it is the state’s economic generator,” he said after a state exco meeting yesterday.

“There are more than 30,000 workers at KHTP, so we do not want the factories to be closed because it will have a huge impact. Therefore, we hope to tighten control in Kulim, especially around Bayam Indah.”

Muhammad Sanusi said the population of Kulim is 329,000, and the Bayam Indah cluster involved an area with more than 17,000 residents.

“If we take into account a 500mradius (from the Bayam Indah area) there are 1,412 houses in several residential areas with more than 6,000 people.”

He said lessons should be learnt from the experience in Aman Jaya in Sungai Petani, that the infection moves faster and easier in areas with a high population density.

Twelve clusters in Kedah have been terminated including Tawar, Telaga, Sivagangga and Sungai, he said. – Bernama