KUCHING, March 22 — The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) today directed all hypermarkets, supermarkets, wet markets, coffee shops, private clinics, restaurants, 24 hours convenient stores and petrol stations in the state to close their operations from 7pm to 7am daily.

The committee said the directive takes effect from March 24 until March 31 in a move to curb the spread of Covid-19 outbreak.

“This is necessary to stop public movement which is still heavy in certain places,” SDMC stressed.

“However, the directive will not affect those helping in the current operation enforcement like the police, military, medical workers and immigration officers.

“The new requirement is another strategy to combat the Covid-19 from further spreading,” SDMC said.

On another issue, SDMC said all supermarkets, hypermarkets, wet markets, pharmacies, and private clinics are now required to do social distancing in their respective premises.

It added the police will check randomly to ensure that the operators of these business establishments follow the requirements.

It said the operators are advised to do a temperature check on their customers and to provide the hand sanitisers.