GEORGE TOWN, March 16 — Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow hopes the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme can be sped up for those working in the manufacturing sector in the state.

The Penang lawmaker urged urgency in doing so and pointed to the latest report from the state Health Department dated March 14 that found 12 out of 19 active Covid-19 clusters in Penang involved the manufacturing sector.

"The Health Ministry agreed that by vaccinating factory workers in Penang, there is a high possibility that it could reduce the number of cases in Penang,” he said in a statement today.

He said he had made the proposal to the National Security Council in a special meeting on Covid-19 chaired by the prime minister on video last night.

"The proposal received positive response in the meeting and the health ministry was instructed to study the proposal for implementation as soon as possible,” he said.

Chow also called on the Ministry of International Trade and Industries to speed up implementation of the "Safe@Work” SOP presented on March 3.

The "Safe@Work” SOP involves all factories operating in Penang and also takes into account the costs and incentives needed, especially for small and medium sized enterprises and industries.

Chow said that in the same meeting on March 14, the Health Ministry reported a national infection rate or R-naught (R-t) of 0.87 while in Penang, the R-t is still at a higher rate of 1.05.

"An analysis of daily incidents, for the period between February 15 and 28, the average  number of cases in Penang is 120 with an incident rate of 92.61 while between March 1 and 14, the average number of cases is 139 with an incident rate of 107.61,” he said.

He reminded Penangites to continue to adhere to the SOP to stop the spread of Covid-19.