Gatherings, events related to Melaka election campaign not allowed – Khairy

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 24 – All activities, whether gatherings or social events related to the Melaka state election campaigning including events to launch election machineries, will not be allowed effective Oct 25 to Nov 2021, Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin announced today.

The Melaka state election will be held on Nov 20.

In a statement issued today, Khairy said among the main contributors to the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases and clusters were social gatherings and events being held without observing the standard operating procedures including the required social distancing.

He said the upcoming election will certainly involve many social events including mass gatherings and this will raise the risks in spreading the Covid-19 virus, he said.

The minister has cited the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) to implement the ruling.

He said this will also be in line with the prohibited activities listed under Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), that does not allow any activities that makes it difficult for crowd control or monitoring of SOPs.

Calling on people to take responsibility for keeping the Covid-19 spread in check, he said actions such as compounds or court action can be taken against individuals and organisations found to have broken the ruling under Act 342.

Today, a total of 5,666 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the country, bringing the total number of infections todate to 2,431,716 cases.