THE Penang government is allowing all food premises to provide dine-in services in the state starting from May 18.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state executive council, during a meeting on May 13, has decided to allow all food premises in Penang to provide dine-in services from May 18 onwards.
“In other words, Penang will be fully implementing the conditional movement control order (CMCO) from May 18.
“The local councils together with the state executive council member and state Health Department will coordinate the guidelines that allow dine-ins at eateries,” he told the public via Facebook Live on his Facebook page today.
Penang had earlier allowed food premises in shopping malls, hotels and fast food franchises to provide dine-ins from May 15.
The Penang government is also introducing the ‘Penang Contact Tracer’ (PGCare) registration system to ease the process of data collection of customers.
The PGCare is an application aimed at helping business premises in Penang adhere to the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the National Security Council.
“It requires the customer to take three simple steps – scan the QR code, fill in his particulars and inform the premises owner or staff upon checking-in,” he said.
The public can know more about the application by visiting www.pgcare.my or www.penanglawancovid19.com
Chow said that the PGCare application does not only save time and avoid contact, but also keep information safe and free from abuse.
“PGCare will only record the patron’s name and phone number. All these information are only accessible to the state government.
“Business premises and other people, apart from the state government, will not be able to access the information.
“The information will only be accessed after receiving request from the Health Ministry for the purpose of Covid-19 contact tracing.
“The information in the database will only be kept for 30 days before being automatically deleted as requested and approved by the state Health Department,” Chow said.
He urged all business premises to cooperate and use the PGCare application.
Chow was happy to note that the ‘Penang Gradual Recovery Strategy’ received recognition from public health experts including renowned scientist Datuk Emeritus Prof Dr Lam Sai Kit.
He was delighted that Penang together with Pahang and Melaka recorded the highest CMCO compliance rate at 98%.
He urged the people to continue the efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Law Suun Ting
Video by Alissala Thian