The Malaysian government on Thursday (18 Feb) announced another change to the standard operating procedures (SOP) in eateries, this time permitting dining establishments to seat more than two patrons per table starting Friday, subject to table sizes.
Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a briefing yesterday that this relaxation applies to all states nationwide regardless of whether the state is under the movement control order (MCO), conditional MCO or recovery MCO.
Additionally, he said the government has decided to allow the public to travel with more than two persons in one vehicle, subject to vehicle sizes.
“After hearing appeals from the public, we have decided to allow more than two persons per table for dine-in in restaurants, provided that they adhere to the one-metre distancing rule,” he said.
“We also decided to allow people to have more than two persons in one vehicle, depending on the car’s capacity,” he added.
Netizens on Facebook subsequently urged the government to stop changing the SOPs as doing so causes confusion among the public.
They also opined that further relaxation of rules would make the MCO pointless.
Meanwhile, a number of users questioned why Parliament could not be reconvened, given the increased relaxation of SOPs during the otherwise strict MCO.
On Tuesday, the government has lifted the 10km travel restriction while still prohibiting inter-district and interstate travel.
