KUALA LUMPUR: Companies in the manufacturing sector previously listed under the non-essential services list will now be allowed to resume operations.
International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) in a statement said this applies to states under Phases 1 and 2 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) and the operation capacity is based on the company's rate of fully vaccinated workers.
On the other hand, essential services manufacturing companies at Phases 1, 2 and 3 states will be allowed to increase their capacity based on the rate of fully vaccinated workers.
The new policy effective tomorrow listed that companies with fully vaccinated workers between 40 and 59 per cent will be allowed to operate at 60 per cent capacity, while fully vaccinated workers between 60 and 79 per cent will be allowed to operate at 80 per cent capacity.
Companies with fully vaccinated workers between 80 and 100 per cent will be allowed to operate at full capacity, the ministry said.
"The Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP) has been a great success in demonstrating the government's resolve to accelerate herd immunity among Malaysians.
"A total 16,868,615 individuals have received one dose of vaccine while 10,425,300 have been fully vaccinated with two doses as of 11.59am yesterday.
"In line with the NRP and the focus on balancing the protection of lives and livelihoods, the government has agreed to ease certain mobility restrictions for Malaysians who have received full vaccination as announced by the Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin," it said today.
The ministry also placed mitigation measures to monitor the Covid-19 situation in the industry.
Following the reopening of the sectors, companies are required to declare the numbers and names of their fully vaccinated employees in the Covid-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS) 3.0 system.
Upon declaration, the company may directly download the latest approval letter to operate and the access to CIMS 3.0 for the vaccination rate declaration is limited to only the manufacturing sector.
The employee vaccination rate verification and periodic visits will be done by enforcement personnel on manufacturing companies.
"The companies are also required to conduct the RTK Antigen Testing as approved by the Health Ministry through self-testing or at health facilities every two weeks for their employees.
"Current Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) such as physical distancing, wearing of face masks and others are still applicable and mandatory for the company," it said.
The ministry reminded companies of the obligation to fully comply with SOPs and non-compliance will result in legal action including fines or closure of the company for a specified period.