KUALA LUMPUR: The large gathering outside the Jalan Duta court complex here today may have flouted standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), and action will be taken if any report is lodged on the incident.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said it is up to enforcement agencies to take action against those who flouted the SOPs.
"The practice of social distancing is stated under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342).
"We have conveyed all the information to the public on the SOPs through many ways. What we expect is the enforcement now... If somebody lodges a complaint on the (Jalan Duta gathering), the authorities will take action against the flouters," he said.
Dr Adham was speaking after attending a signing ceremony on an education scholarship agreement between Clinical Research Malaysia (CRM) and Dr Voon Pei Jye of the Sarawak General Hospital.
The minister was commenting on viral images showing a lack of social distancing among over 1,000 people outside the Kuala Lumpur High Court here, who were demonstrating support for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the day the verdict on his SRC International Bhd trial was delivered.
Video footage and images of the gathering had raised public ire nationwide.
On another matter, Dr Adham said the reduction of operation hours for businesses in Sarawak, following a resurgence of Covid-19 cases, may be emulated by Selangor and Putrajaya, which are also experiencing spikes in infections. He said a decision on the matter will be made tomorrow.
He added that the number of local transmissions is still small, hence the ministry will look into the pattern of positive cases, especially clusters.
"We will decide on it on Aug 1 after we look into the pattern of number of positive cases, especially on the clusters," he added.
Meanwhile, the ministry, through CRM, will be sponsoring Sarawak General Hospital Medical oncologist Dr Voon Pei Jye, for a 13-month Clinical Fellowship Training at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, which is affiliated with the University of Toronto, Canada.
Dr Voon will undergo the fellowship training at the centre from Sept 1.