KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 —  Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri said he has yet to receive confirmation that a barber in Setapak has been diagnosed as Covid-19 positive after reopening his shop.

However, he stressed the importance of customer registration for contact tracing in visiting public premises.

"If it’s true, then the premises will be shut. This is true for any premises — construction sites, barbers or factories. As long as there is a case, the premises will close, and screening of all contacts will be done.

"This is why it’s important that we fill in our information everywhere we go. If there is a case like this, we need to be able to contact all the customers and those who had come into contact with them,” Ismail Sabri said in his briefing today.

He said the regulations for foreign-owned barbers and hairdressers are even more stringent as the operators must take a swab test and be certified free of Covid-19 before they will be allowed to work.

"The customer can ask for proof that the hairdresser has been tested negative. They can ask for a letter issued by the clinic that they did the test. They have a right to do so because it is a requirement that all foreigners have to get it done before they can work here,” he said.

Ismail Sabri asked for the public’s help in enforcing the SOP.

"If asked and the foreign hairdresser fails to give proof, please report it immediately to enforcement authorities so we can take action that the hairdresser is not complying with government orders,” he said.

He said this after being asked about a news report that a barber in KL Trader’s Square in Setapak had contracted Covid-19 within two days of opening.

Barbers and hair stylists were finally allowed to resume business on yesterday under the recovery movement control order (RMCO) after being shut down since March 18.

Meanwhile, the government’s Ops Bersepadu on illegal immigrants is ongoing to arrest foreigners in the country illegally.

"We have been actively conducting Covid-19 screening on all illegal immigrants who have been arrested and those with positive symptoms have been sent to the designated quarantine centre at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) in Serdang for treatment.

As of now, 813 foreigners have received treatment and 430 have recovered and will be deported to their countries of origin.