Its minister Annuar Musa said he had received complaints from the public that the operators were not practising social distancing rules within their premises.

“A friend of mine, who is a non-Muslim, said the patrons were sitting and hanging out like on normal days in the shop.

“The ministry and agencies under the state security working committee have decided to place pubs and food stores that serve liquor under the ‘negative list’, which means that they cannot operate during the CMCO period,” he said on his Facebook video today.

Many businesses, including pubs, started operating again yesterday when the CMCO came into force. They had been closed since the lockdown began on March 18.

Meanwhile, Annuar said the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) enforcement department inspected 91 premises around the city yesterday and found that some of them did not enforce social distancing rules.

“There were 48 premises that did not put markings on the floor to inform their customers to stand one metre away from each other. DBKL also found 28 premises that did not provide hand sanitiser for customers,” he said.

He reminded all business operators to adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs) by providing hand sanitiser and implementating social distancing rules within their premises.

He said the SOPs had the force of law as they were drafted based on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act.

“Those who fail to follow the SOPs will be given compound notices or be fined in court,” Annuar said.

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