KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — The Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Sarawak election will be presented soon to the Election Commission (EC), said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

The minister said these will also take into account the detection of the new Covid-19 variant of concern, Omicron, to reduce the risk of local transmission.

Physical campaigning was banned when the Melaka state election was conducted last month.

“The SOP for the Sarawak election is almost complete and the Ministry of Health is fine-tuning a few other matters for us to present to the EC but, of course, this new development will be factored in so that the SOP that we present to the EC is seen as more strict to ensure no outbreak occurs during the state election,” he said.

Prior to the Melaka state election, public health officials had urged all candidates to comply with the stringent SOP and bear in mind how the previous Sabah state election had triggered a fresh wave of Covid-19 infections last year.

For the Sarawak state election, the EC has set December 6 for nomination and December 18 for polling, with early voting to be held on December 14.