MELAKA: A man in a jacket and jeans has shared the risk of not scanning MySejahtera to patrons of eateries at Bukit Beruang during an enforcement operation, catching offenders by surprise.

       He turned out to be a top state official.

       Those who violated the standard operating procedure (SOP) while dining got a "gentle reminder" from the newly minted state Health and Anti-Drug Committee chairman Dr Muhammad Akmal Saleh.

       He addressed the offenders as “boss” and “uncle” before reminding them the importance of observing the SOP.

       Dr Muhammad, who is Merlimau assemblyman, was sworn in last month as part of the Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali's new exco line-up.

       He had led a team from the state Health Department on an enforcement operation on Thursday night (Dec 9).

       Dr Muhammad, 33, a medical officer, manages his own clinic at Merlimau here.

       When interviewed on Friday (Dec 10), Dr Muhammad said he is serious in implementing the SOP and would personally oversee operations of curbing the spread of Covid-19.

       "We will also focus on ensuring chefs and cooks at hotels and eateries, as well as school canteen operators are fully vaccinated," he said.

       Dr Muhammad said 609 people have been issued compound notices since March 18 last year until Tuesday (Dec 7) for not scanning their MySejahtera, or registering manually before entering a premise.

       He said compound notices totalling RM12.8mil have been issued since last year.

       Dr Muhammad said 6,777 compound notices were issued, while 30,084 premises were inspected between March 18 last year to Dec 7 this year.