While there's been no mention yet on whether interstate travels will be allowed (the government is discussing the possibility), it looks like Ramadan bazaars are a go.
In fact, there are plenty of them in Kuala Lumpur.
Strict SOPs in place
The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) said in a statement quoted by Bernama that a total of 65 locations in KL are expected to be turned into Ramadan bazaars.These Ramadan bazaars are allowed to operate from 3pm to 8pm during the fasting month, DBKL said.
Out of the 65 locations, DBKL revealed that only two will be supervised by DBKL: Taman Tasik Permaisuri car park (near to Kuala Lumpur Football stadium) and Jalan 4/38 A Taman Sri Sinar, Segambut (Wisma Suhati).
DBKL added that strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be observed.
"Visitors to Ramadan bazaars are required to comply with standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the National Security Council (MKN) such as wearing face masks, having their body temperature scanned and to check-in with the MySejahtera app," DBKL said in the statement.
DBKL also warned that individuals and operators who are found to have violated SOPs will be fined RM10,000 and RM50,000 respectively.
Cause of concern?
The decision to allow Ramadan bazaars to operate at this point in time could be the cause of concern as the number of active COVID-19 cases are slowly climbing the past couple of weeks.On Saturday (10 April), Health Director General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah tweeted his concerns over the rising cases.
In the tweet, Dr Noor Hisham shared two graphs, a forecast of the weekly active cases and Rt infectivity rate, with the caption: "The basic data and facts speak for themselves."
The basic data and facts speak for themselves. pic.twitter.com/qhtBovdubB
— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) April 10, 2021
Based on the charts, the number of weekly cases has jumped from 8.968 in Week 13 to 9,507 in Week 14. The number of weekly cases have seen a slight increase since Week 12 (8,929).
Meanwhile, the Rt infectivity rate chart shows that the country is still struggling to bring the infectivity rate down.
The current infectivity rate as of 11 April stands at 1.06, which is far off the 0.8 target and is hitting slightly above the forecasted trajectory for non-compliance to SOP.
Kadar kebolehjangkitan Covid-19 atau Ro/Rt pada jangkaan mengikut kes seharian pada 11 HB April 2021 untuk seluruh negara adalah 1.06. Manakala pecahan mengikut negeri adalah seperti di lampiran. pic.twitter.com/zOZTizwj9U
— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) April 12, 2021
Malaysia is still recording more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases on a daily basis, with a total of 15,059 active cases as of 10 April.
Allowing Ramadan bazaars to open or interstate travels could spell disaster if they are not managed correctly.