KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the public needs to increase its awareness of the Covid-19 pandemic first before Putrajaya resorts to sterner actions.
He said this is applicable so long as the pandemic can still be kept under control, hence the usage of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 as part of the movement control order.
“For example when you look at China, they did a total lockdown in several provinces. I cannot comment on their internal workings, but from what I saw the streets were emptied, with enforcement personnel going around public places to conduct disinfecting,” Dr Adham said during an interview on RTM’s Bicara Naratif programme.
Noting that the usage of the Act to restrict movement during an outbreak is the first time it has ever been done since Merdeka, the Tenggara MP said it is important for Malaysia to learn from other nations whose infection graphs indicate a rise, then plateaus.
“For the time being, the number of Covid-19 positive cases appears to have plateaued for the past several days, at over 100 or so. But should it rise to 200 or more cases every day, then it becomes dangerous as many clusters emerge and we would be unable to contain them all.
“I say in all seriousness that it is crucial for us to break the chain of the pandemic’s transmission. As a minister I must safeguard the public’s lives, if it means using methods from other countries which have succeeded,” Dr Adham said.
The minister cited the examples of Iran, Italy, and South Korea, whose populace initially did not view the pandemic in its early stages and were subsequently overwhelmed by the alarming rate of infections and deaths.
“These are advanced countries, and we are almost as advanced as they are. Yet if things ended up like that for them, what is to say about us?
“Hence why it is important for all of us as Malaysians to do our part in making sure the chain of transmission can be successfully broken,” he said.
As of today, approximately 228,017 Covid-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with 9,314 deaths. Italy has the second largest number of cases and deaths at 35,713 and 2,978 respectively, Iran at third with 18,407 cases and 1,284 deaths, and South Korea at the eight spot with 8,565 cases and 91 deaths.
Malaysia has a total of 900 Covid-19 positive cases so far, with two deaths resultant from the pandemic on Tuesday, a 34-year old man from Johor and a 60-year old pastor in Sarawak.
