By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Sept 30: Companies across Sarawak with fully vaccinated workers may operate at full capacity with strict compliance to Covid-19 precautions from Oct 1 as the entire State moves into Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) including the southern districts.
In the latest standard operating procedures (SOP) issued by the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) today, companies that have not met the full vaccination requirement are allowed to operate at 80 per cent capacity in both operations and management.
Employers are responsible to ensure shift work scheduling is in place as well as safety precautions are complied with to manage the 80 per cent workforce so that workers can return to their workplaces safely.
Workers with symptoms or who have been identified as a ‘Person Under Surveillance (PUS)’ are not allowed to be at the workplace until the end of their quarantine period with a Release Order issued by the health authorities and must complete their Covid-19 screening.
All workers, suppliers and customers are required to be masked while in offices and any premises.
Employers are also encouraged to conduct random testing using rapid antigen test-kits to ensure that workers are free from Covid-19.
Workers are not allowed to eat in groups without physical distancing during lunch or rest time in a designated area within the office or premises.
For drivers and transporters delivering goods and in the essential services sector, it is compulsory for them to undergo self-testing using rapid antigen test-kits weekly (once every seven days), other than obtaining a police permit or company authorisation letter for periodic and frequent inter-district travel (cross district more than once in seven days).
As for the public and government sectors, a 50 per cent of premises capacity or a maximum of 100 persons only limit applies to seminars, workshops, courses, training, conventions, talks, briefings, meetings and programmes.
However, it is encouraged for meetings to be held via video conferencing while service training is only allowed to be conducted within training institution areas.
For the meantime, organisation of meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) are only allowed to be conducted virtually.
Hybrid events are encouraged with a mix of physical and virtual attendees. — DayakDaily
