PUTRAJAYA, July 3 — Only members of parliament, parliament staff and media practitioners with symptoms will be subjected to Covid-19 swab tests before they are given the nod to attend the upcoming Parliamentary meeting on July 13.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah as how practised by other institutions, the Parliament would only have to adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs), with swab tests not made mandatory.
“However, SOPs such as temperature checks, the use of face masks, and sanitising of hands, will be enforced.
“Only when there are symptoms we will do swab tests,” he said at the Covid-19 media briefing here today.
During the May 18 parliament sitting, all MPs, parliament staff and newsmen had swab tests done before they were allowed to attend the sitting.
The upcoming parliament session is scheduled for 25 days from July 13 until August 27.
Meanwhile, commenting on tahfiz schools and madrasah which have been allowed to resume operations on July 15, Dr Noor Hisham called on those which are unregistered to come forward so that their students, teachers and staff can undergo Covid-19 screening.
This was because tahfiz schools and madrasah are in the ministry’s list of target groups for screening, he said.
“There are those which are registered and those that are not, and for the registered ones, we conduct screenings in stages.
“As for those which are unregistered, we also do screenings but there are conditions they must comply with (to operate),” he said.
To date, the MOH has screened staff and students of 453 tahfiz schools and madrasah, totalling 24,324 individuals.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad said all religious and tahfiz schools and madrasah registered with the Education Ministry and state authorities have been allowed to resume operations from July 15.
Those not registered, meanwhile, will have to refer to the state authorities before resuming operations. — Bernama
