PETALING JAYA: Most business premises were found to be complying with preventive Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) during lockdown, with only a small number of them breaking the rules, says the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

       The ministry's enforcement division said it checked a total of 615,996 premises from May 13 until June 26, and found 574 businesses flouting SOP.

       "It's satisfying to see 98.54% of businesses complying with SOP. About 1.27% of them received warnings for non-compliance, while only 0.1% of the premises were issued compound notices," the ministry's enforcement division said in a statement on Sunday (June 27).

       Between June 1 and June 26, enforcement officers conducted checks at 44,903 premises nationwide and issued compound notices amounting to more than RM2.14mil to 388 businesses or businesses owners who broke SOP.

       Among the offences were opening after hours, workers failing to scan MySejahtera before entering premises, workers failing to wear masks at the premises and not limiting the number of people entering the premises.

       The businesses were issued compound notices ranging from RM1,500 to RM10,000.

       The division also received 132 complaints from the public during the same period.

       The ministry also advised business owners to take every effort to ensure their workers and customers comply with SOP.

       "Business owners need to be proactive and vigilant in ensuring SOP is strictly followed to avoid the creation of new Covid-19 clusters," the enforcement division said.