KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 – The government’s move to allow selected manufacturing sectors to continue operating even for limited hours is believed to pose a risk of higher infection rate, said Umno Deputy President Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

According to the Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman, the move presently is against a ‘total lockdown’.

“We have gone through several standard operating procedures (SOPs) over a year now. However, cases are increasing with various new variants.

“The full closure of the economic and social sectors must take place totally except the food, agriculture and health sectors. It is to reduce stress on the health system.

“The importance of the manufacturing and construction sectors is no longer there as the risk is bigger,” he said in a statement today.

The Rantau State Assemblyman added that all parties must sacrifice these two weeks.

“We will not be able to bridge the gap of infection with various sectors continuing to operate selectively,” he added.

Based on data released by the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Center (CPRCC), a total of 115 workplace clusters with 5,392 cases were reported between May 12 to May 26 while more than half of the total involved the manufacturing sector, namely 62 clusters.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) announced that as of 12 noon, 95,142 companies had obtained permission to operate during the PKP.

Mohamad said that this means almost 20 per cent of companies registered with COVID-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS) have obtained permission to operate and the number is expected to increase today and tomorrow.