By Ling Hui
KUCHING, May 1: Service crews in all hawker centres under the jurisdiction of Kuching South City Council (MBKS) will undergo a one-and-a-half-month trial period of wearing face shields on top of their face masks, starting earliest by next week.
MBKS mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng said this would serve as a double layer of protection to all the service personnel who are exposed to strangers for a long period of time.
“We (MBKS) will start this initiative with them (hawker centres). The reason is that when you wear a face mask, it will only cover your nose and mouth, not your eyes and other parts of your face. So if there is another layer, it will be double protection.
“If you want to rub your eyes or touch your face, there would not be any direct contact. So, we will have this regulation at areas under our jurisdiction,” he said during his Facebook livestream session today.
After the successful implementation at hawker centres, MBKS will consider expanding this regulation to restaurants, other local eateries and even hotels.
Noting that the price of face shields are no longer as expensive as when it used to cost up to over RM10 per piece, he said the current pricing is very economical.
Wee thus encouraged employers in private hospitals and clinics, pharmacies, express delivery companies and cleaning companies to also start the same practice to protect their employees who are at high risk of exposure daily.
He said after the new regulation has been fully approved, official letters to the hawker centres and other industries would be sent out by next week.
“For the safety of your employees, I urge all employers to cooperate and help to decrease the number of Covid-19 cases in Kuching.
“Even if this could not directly reduce the number of infection cases, at least it serves as a protective measure,” he added. — DayakDaily
