Malaysia

Call for Johoreans to combat virus spike

Case numbers must be reduced so S'pore will reopen its border with state, industry leaders urge

Frontline workers conducting health screenings yesterday in Kajang town, in Selangor state, amid an enhanced movement control order there. If Johor Baru district remained a red zone for some time or if a conditional movement control order were to be
Frontline workers conducting health screenings yesterday in Kajang town, in Selangor state, amid an enhanced movement control order there. If Johor Baru district remained a red zone for some time or if a conditional movement control order were to be implemented, it would spell trouble for local businesses, industry leaders warned. PHOTO: BERNAMA

JOHOR BARU • Industry leaders in Johor have urged Johoreans to work hard in combating the current spike in Covid-19 cases, in order for Singapore to reopen its border with the state.

Mr Michael Tay, government affairs coordinating chairman for the Johor chapter of the Malaysian Chinese Association, said Singapore would not reopen the two land links with the state if Covid-19 cases in Johor remained high.

"We have been declared a red zone. This is not good, especially when we are looking at reopening the border for workers soon," he said, adding that Singapore has managed to bring its daily Covid-19 cases down to single digits.

Johor Baru district has been declared a red zone after more than 40 coronavirus cases were logged in the last 14 days.

Mr Tay hoped everyone would comply with rules, such as maintaining appropriate distancing and wearing masks, whenever they are out, saying that Johor's economy has been badly affected since the border closure on March 18.

"If the government announces a conditional movement control order (MCO), similar to the Klang Valley, here in Johor Baru, we are all going to be in serious trouble."

Johor Baru Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Low Kueck Shin said sacrifices must be made to keep the numbers down.

"We need to work really hard to ensure the numbers do not go up in the months to come. This is crucial for the state's economy.

"Sacrifices such as limiting unnecessary travels must be made," he said, adding that businesses in Johor Baru would be hard hit if the district remained a red zone for some time or if a conditional MCO (CMCO) was implemented.

Malaysian Tourist Guides Council president Jimmy Leong urged the public, including tourism industry players, to continue following health protocols strictly.

Johor Health and Environment committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said Johor Baru district was declared a red zone last Thursday, with 65 active Covid-19 cases reported by then.

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    Johor Baru district has been declared a red zone after this number of coronavirus cases were logged in the last 14 days.

"Ten new Covid-19 cases were reported on Thursday, including nine cases from existing clusters and one from other screenings," he said in a statement last Friday.

Meanwhile, the state government has ordered the closure of kindergartens, childcare centres and community rehabilitation centres, along with children and senior citizens activity centres, as well as religious schools in the district.

The Education Ministry has shut all educational institutions in the district for two weeks, starting from today.

The rise in Johor cases is a reflection of a Covid-19 surge in Malaysia in the last few weeks.

The federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and Selangor and Sabah states have been placed under a CMCO, which restricts inter-district travel and bans large gatherings.

Malaysia yesterday reported 659 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with eastern Sabah reporting 529, or 80.3 per cent. There were zero new cases reported for Johor.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on November 01, 2020, with the headline Call for Johoreans to combat virus spike. Subscribe