SHAH ALAM, Dec 29 — The Banting public market was ordered to close for 10 days from today to allow for sanitation operations and Covid-19 screenings to be conducted.

State health director Datuk Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman said the order was issued due to several non-compliance of the standard operating procedures (SOP) detected at the premises such as failure to implement physical distancing, failure to present record on the thrice-daily sanitation operations as well the record on employee screenings.

"A total of 25 positive cases of Covid-19 have been detected related to this market and 43 close contacts, namely the patients’ family members have also been screened,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Dr Sha’ari said with the closure, the Kuala Langat district health office would conduct Covid-19 screening tests on all 101 traders on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Kuala Langat Municipal Council president Datuk Amirul Azizan Abdul Rahim in a statement said the public sanitation would be conducted throughout the market closure.

Earlier, a closure notice on the public market was seen going viral on social media. — Bernama