COVID: Gov't to focus on one general SOP, nine guidelines - Hishammuddin

Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the general SOP was related to fixed measures to control the spread of COVID-19, such as wearing face masks, ventilation guides, MySejahtera app check-ins and being fully vaccinated.

He said the nine guidelines, meanwhile, comprise activities in the various sectors.

"These guidelines cannot be enforced but it is the responsibility of the people to understand and practice them as best as possible," he told a special media conference at Wisma Pertahanan here today.

"For now, a proposal paper for a general SOP covering nine guidelines related to COVID-19 has been completed and will be presented to the COVID-19 Pandemic Management Special Committee chaired by the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob).

"If the committee agrees to it, it will be announced. This matter is important because we are making various SOP relaxations and they must be complied with," he said.

He said this was to make it easier to understand the existing SOP, with the hope that they would be disciplined and comply with the new SOP.

Hishammuddin said that he had previously stated that he wanted to reduce the existing SOP to a simple situation that is easily understood by the public, especially with the country moving towards the endemic phase.

He said the public must play their role together with the authorities by refraining from doing things that could increase the risk of infections.

"This is in line with the third focus of the government's planning in moving towards the endemic phase, namely community empowerment," he said.

Hishammuddin said the other two focuses were targeted control and good virus awareness.

"I want to remind the people not to be complacent in taking advantage of relaxations given," he said.

In September, the government streamlined the SOP on COVID-19 from 181 to just 10 for it to be easily understood by the public, industry stakeholders and enforcement agencies.