THE Health Ministry today said it is taking all possible measures to prevent the parliamentary sitting from being interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry is carrying out preventive measures to ensure that Parliament is free from the virus.

“Our worry is that MPs are coming from all over the country. Even though we have carried out screenings, they are still exposed to the community at large.

“Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya are under the CMCO (condition movement-control order). So, maybe they can be exposed to positive cases that are out there,” he said during a press conference in Putrajaya today.

Earlier today, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun said sessions will be limited to 80 MPs starting with tomorrow’s tabling of Budget 2021 as part of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Its business hours have also been reduced with the daily meetings now being from 10am to 2pm.

“Forty-one of the MPs will be from the government with the remaining 39 from the opposition,” he said.

Noor Hisham said for a start, the ministry had already taken initial measures by carrying out screenings for all staff three days before Parliament convened.

“We are taking precautionary measures and constantly upgrading.

“Even though there is standard operating procedure (SOP) we can still improve the measures taken.”

He also added the ministry had proposed to carry out tests at the Parliament once in every two weeks to ensure they were no cases. 

“The tests are not only for MPs but everyone who comes to the Parliament.”

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry had suggested that Covid-19 screening be carried out every two weeks on Parliament staff as well as members of Parliament during the Dewan Rakyat sitting.

Noor Hisham said the proposal would be conveyed to Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun for the current sitting that began on Monday and will last until December 15. – November 5, 2020.