GEORGE TOWN: Penang will render its fullest cooperation to the federal government following Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's announcement on a state of emergency in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state special security committee (JKKN), which met this morning, took note of the Prime Minister's declaration of a state of emergency, after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah consented due to the worrying Covid-19 situation.
The emergency proclaimed by the King, based on Clause 1 under Article 150 of the Federal Constitution, would be in force until Aug 1.
"We will give our fullest cooperation to the government on this.
"This is because we are facing a critical challenge now, with the Covid-19 pandemic into its third wave, and Penang has been reporting three digit cases since the end of last year," he said after chairing the meeting.
It was reported that Penang would go into a two-week lockdown beginning midnight Wednesday.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin had announced a new Movement Control Order (MCO) for Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor, Sabah, Kuala Lumpur, Putraya and Labuan. The MCO would take effect for two weeks until Jan 26.
There are currently eight active Covid-19 clusters in the state.
Chow said at today's meeting, it was also decided that 39 road blocks would be mooted statewide during the MCO involving some 1,142 law enforcement authorities, including the police, army, the Civil Defence Force and Rela.
On the low-risk Covid-19 centres, Chow said the state government had written to the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) yesterday to propose the Mara Excellence Centre in Jawi, Seberang Prai Selatan and the Pesta grounds in Batu Uban here as possible new sites.
"We have also applied for additional funding under the Kumpulan Wang Amanah Bantuan Bencana Negara.
"Both sites are able to house 1,000 patients each," he added.
Penang currently has low-risk Covid-19 centres in the Caring Society Complex here as well as the Balik Pulau Sports Complex and the Zakat Training Centre (Pulaza), also in Balik Pulau.
Similar centres were also set up within the grounds of the Penang Remand Prison here and the Seberang Prai Prison in Jawi.
Chow said the state Health Department had also been asked to inform the Health Ministry on initiatives taken by private sectors in the state, particularly the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), which have agreed to carry out mass screening among their workers.
"Also, some 100 private clinics under the Penang Medical Practitioners' Society (PMPS) are prepared to provide Covid-19 vaccine injections for free to all the people in the state.
"The cooperation from all quarters is much needed to win the battle against Covid-19.
"In the aspect of public health and economic consideration, we must admit that it is difficult to strike a balance. As such, we need to decide when confronted with such a situation. We must agree that without public health stability, economic growth can't be achieved and guaranteed," he added.