PETALING JAYA: Optometrists are now listed as an essential service and are allowed to operate during the movement control order (MCO) period.
Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa announced this in a Twitter post, saying they are allowed to operate according to the standard operating procedures set, adding: “They are essential indeed.”
When contacted, an aide to Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob confirmed the matter with FMT.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Association of Practising Opticians (Mapo) urged Putrajaya to classify optometry and optical services as an essential service, saying about 30% of the people need spectacles, including Covid-19 frontliners.
“When their glasses break, they are forced to wear old glasses which have outdated prescriptions and could easily cause dizziness and discomfort,” the association’s president, Edmund Teng, said in a letter to Ismail.
The association had made a similar request to the government during the first MCO in March last year.