Govt to introduce revised Covid-19 SOPs

PETALING JAYA: The health ministry will release details on the revised standard operating procedures (SOPs) for Covid-19 soon.

Its minister, Dzulkefly Ahmad, said the new SOPs would cover revised rules on the home surveillance order (HSO), use of face masks and the declaration of local areas of infection.

“As soon as we have the implementation date, the director-general of health will release the details to the public,” he said, according to Bernama.

“The details are technical. For example, the HSO duration was previously five days, along with the requirement for the patient to update the MySejahtera application with their symptoms. With the revision, this may change.

“We are now in an era where Covid-19 is treated like any other viruses, such as influenza,” he told reporters after officiating the ministry’s 2024 Nutrition Month Malaysia (NMM) in Nilai today.

On the NMM, he said it aims to highlight the importance of a broad-based approach in encouraging the public to change their mindset towards the prevention of diet-related nutritional disorders and provide guidance for healthy eating and active lifestyles.

He said the current prevalence of non-communicable diseases in the country is very worrying, with the 2023 National Health and Morbidity Survey showing an increase in the prevalence of adults being obese and overweight to 54.5% last year from 50.1% in 2019.

Dzulkefly said the ministry has also drafted a strategic plan to encourage Malaysians to reduce their sugar intake so that more aggressive and targeted activities can be implemented in an integrated manner at various levels.

“It is to deal with excessive sugar intake through the ‘War on Sugar’ initiative that will be launched soon,” he said.