The Jelutong Market and its surrounding 186 outdoor stalls were ordered to close for 10 days after four traders tested positive for the virus.

The pork and food section at the Bagan Ajam Market on the mainland was also ordered to close for 10 days after eight positive cases were detected in the Jalan Terbilang cluster there.

Both markets have a large number of customers, with the Jelutong market having at least 1,000 daily visitors on average, a local assemblyman said. The Bagan Ajam market is the largest wet market in Butterworth, with at least an average of 800 people frequenting it daily.

Penang Island mayor Yew Tung Seang said the Jelutong market has 60 stalls and 186 temporary stalls bounding the market at Jalan Penaga and Lorong Ipoh.

Sanitation work will be carried out, he told a press conference today.

Seberang Perai mayor Rozali Mohamud said the pork and food section of the Bagan Ajam market would be closed for 10 days following the detection of eight Covid-19 positive cases there.

He also said the 17 traders ordered to undergo swab tests by the district health office had yet to show up.

Rozali urged the traders to call the health office at 04-575-1833 by 6pm today to make an appointment or furnish their Covid-19 test results if they have done so at private facilities.

Separately, Penang local government committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the Penang Medical Practitioners’ Society was ready to give Covid-19 vaccine jabs as part of the national immunisation programme. He said 200 practitioners had written to the relevant authorities for the green light.