By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Jan 15: Lion and dragon dance, open house, visiting, gathering in restaurants, bazaars as well as celebrations at temples and public places are not allowed during Chinese New Year.
Ministry of Local Government and Housing (MLGH) has released the standard operating procedure (SOP) guidelines for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration which will fall on Feb 12 and 13 this year.
On Chinese New Year eve which falls on Feb 11, only closed family members are allowed to gather for reunion dinner and the number of people cannot exceed 20 people.
Movement between places are allowed except between zones placed under Movement Control Order (MCO) and Conditional MCO.
As celebration is only allowed on the first day of Chinese New Year and limited to 20 family members, it is compulsory for household owners to prepare devices for taking body temperature or a thermal scanner.
Visiting family members must also register and download the MySejahtera or COVIDTrace or Qmunity mobile applications for the purpose of contact tracing.
House owners can also manually record details of visiting family members which must include date, time, name and contact number.
Visiting family members with body temperature over 37 degree celcious or showing any symptoms of sickness are not allowed to enter the homes and should go to the nearest hospital or clinic immediately.
It is mandatory for house owners to ensure seating arrangement in compliance with physical distancing of at least one metre.
Practices that involved close contact such as shaking hands are not allowed. — DayakDaily
