Johor polls can proceed - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA: The Johor state election can still proceed as planned as the Omicron COVID-19 variant infection proves to be less severe, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

He said the Ministry of Health's (MOH) recommendations in regard to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the polls had been finalised and submitted to the National Security Council (MKN) and the Election Commission (EC).

"The MOH's view is that since Omicron has so far shown less severe effects as compared to Delta, then the state polls can go ahead," he told a press conference here today.

Khairy said the SOPs for the Johor polls will be announced soon.

On Jan 22, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor consented to the dissolution of the Johor State Assembly to pave the way for the state election.

The EC is scheduled to hold a special meeting this Wednesday to fix the dates for the polls.

Meanwhile, Khairy said in a bid to curb the spike in Omicron infections, employers were encouraged to continue implementing the work-from-home policy or the rotation system for their employees.

In fact, he also called on the employers to help their workers, especially those who were symptomatic, to take the COVID-19 swab test by proving them with self-test kits.

"We also call on employers to make use of the incentives made available by the Ministry of Finance to upgrade the ventilation system in their workplace," he said.

Apart from that, he said members of the public were also advised to activate the MySejahtera Trace feature in the MySejahtera for contact-tracing purposes.

He also reminded all owners of business premises to increase control for entry by checking their customers' risk and vaccination status on MySejahtera.

-- BERNAMA