Penang police chief Datuk Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain speaks to reporters after visiting Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa to check on their SOPs for guests today October 1, 2021. ― Picture by Sayuti Zainudin
GEORGE TOWN, Oct 1 — A total 62 police officers contracted Covid-19 within a two-week period, said Penang police chief Datuk Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain.
He said a total of 108 police officers are now under quarantine.
“Yesterday, for the first time in a month, we don’t have any positive cases reported among the police,” he said in a press conference after visiting Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa to check on their SOPs for guests today.
He said the Covid-19 cases among the police were not due to any specific causes as some are through close contacts, some through their family members and some while on duty.
On the enforcement of SOPs at public and commercial spaces including tourism spots like hotels, Shuhaily said there are currently 86 enforcement teams making the rounds daily.
He said the teams consisted mainly of police along with other agencies such as Rela, Civil Defence department, the local authorities and the Health Ministry.
“We will continue to work with other agencies to conduct enforcement checks on public and commercial places where crowds tend to gather especially with more places opening up now and more movements,” he said.
However, he said the police will not place any permanent personnel at hotels or any specific spots.
He said so far there were no reports of any hotel clusters so there is no need to station police personnel at hotels.
“We also had constant meetings with the related organisations such as the Malaysian Association of Hotels and other agencies to ensure better coordination in enforcing the SOPs,” he said.
When asked if there are plans to reduce the number of roadblocks in Penang, he said they are still awaiting further instructions from the National Security Council (NSC).
There are currently still 36 roadblocks located at various points in the state including the state borders and the ways heading to both bridges.
He said if the police were to reduce its roadblocks, the personnel will join the SOP enforcement team.
“We will have more on our daily SOP enforcement teams to conduct checks,” he said.
On the visit to Rasa Sayang today, he said today is the first day that hotels can accept in-state visitors for staycations and he chose to check on one of the oldest five-star hotels in the country.
“We have met with MAH and we were informed that all hotels are prepared to accept visitors complete with strict SOPs,” he said.
He said MAH has also informed him that bookings at Penang hotels are steadily increasing.
“We want to make sure everything is in accordance with the SOPs for the safety of everyone,” he said.