MELAKA: The management of the iconic Jonker Walk here will encourage visitors to the night market to begin wearing face masks from the coming weekend.
Jonker Walk management committee deputy chairman Datuk Wira Gan Tian Loo said the move is part of health safety measures with the anticipated influx of tourists in conjunction with Chinese New Year as well as the arrival of holidaymakers from China.
“Our traders and hawkers will continue to wear face masks as part of the standard operating procedure that has been in place for the past two years, ” he said on Monday (Jan 9).
Gan said visitors to the night market will be encouraged to mask up from this Friday (Jan 13) as part of Covid-19 precautionary measures.
“We will not enforce the ruling on visitors but encourage them to do so whenever they are in the night market,” he said.
Earlier, Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali said the state government was encouraging the public to wear face masks in crowded places to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
He said tourists should adopt preventive measures like physical distancing, using hand sanitisers and washing their hands frequently although no decision was made to make face masks compulsory.
This was because daily Covid-19 cases in the state were still under control, with fewer than 50 infections reported in the past seven days.
However, Sulaiman said health authorities would continue to monitor the daily figures and impose the face mask rule if the situation called for it.
