KUALA LUMPUR: The government has agreed to allow Chinese New Year reunion dinners to be held, with a maximum attendance of 15.
This was announced by the National Unity Ministry in a statement this evening, saying the decision was made at the National Security Council (NSC) technical meeting chaired by Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Previously, the SOP announced for this year's Chinese New Year stated that reunion dinners were limited to those residing in the same household.
The new SOP however is based on the travel restrictions of the present Movement Control Order (MCO).
Those attending the reunion dinners are permitted a travel distance of within 10km of their homes, without crossing district or state lines, the National Unity Ministry said.
Also allowed are religious activities at places of worship on Feb 11, 12 and 19.
"Places of worship are allowed to open for devotees on these three days from 6am to 2pm. The number of devotees must not exceed 30 at a time, and they must be wearing face masks and observe physical distancing.
"Each prayer session must not be more than 30 minutes and must be followed by 30 minutes of sanitisation works before another session starts.
"Prayers can also be held at house compounds on the midnight of Feb 19 for the Hokkien New Year."
Officers appointed as compliance officers under Section 3 of the Act 342, Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, will make their rounds to ensure the public complies with the standard operating procedures (SOP).
National Unity Minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique also reminded the Chinese community to celebrate Chinese New Year under the new norms by complying with the SOPs and observe physical distancing to break the chain of Covid-19 infection in Malaysia.