The Malaysian Insight

THE conditional movement-control order (CMCO) across the Klang Valley is justified due to its population density, said health and policy researcher Lim Chee Han.

Lim, who holds a doctorate in infection biology, said the current wave of the pandemic, the country’s third, is “more serious” than the previous ones, due to challenges in contact tracing.

“For infections that broke out from the Sri Petaling tabligh cluster in March, the authorities could still trace the attendees.

“However, in this current wave, they have to track people who travelled to Sabah. And with the late lockdown, the coronavirus has now spread to other parts,” Lim told The Malaysian Insight.

The late lockdown refers to the protocol for those returning from Sabah after the state elections held on September 26.

The government only enforced mandatory Covid-19 testing upon arrival at airports starting September 27, and only required self-quarantine until the test results, as long as they were negative.

This meant people who tested negative were free from self-quarantine within a few days, instead of serving out the usual 14-day period.

The Health Ministry subsequently urged all those returning from Sabah since September 20 to come forward for virus testing, but by then the number of cases had spiked.

Sabah has been reporting the highest number of new virus cases daily and has exported them to other states, where infections have also risen and new clusters formed as a result.

Sabah is now under a second round of CMCO until October 26, while Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya will be placed under CMCO from today until October 27.

In recent days, Selangor has started to record a higher number of new cases daily, ahead of Kedah. The northern state had been steadily recording the second-highest number of new infections after Sabah under the latest wave that started early last month.

While Kedah’s spike had mostly been in a prison cluster, Selangor’s cases come from those returning from Sabah and some that appear unrelated within the community.

In the last four days, Selangor has recorded a growing number of cases, with 44 new infections on October 10, 26 (Sunday), 69 (Monday), and 76 (yesterday).

The CMCO for Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya was announced by Senior Minister and National Security Council spokesman Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Monday, two days before it was to begin.

The Selangor government, however, yesterday said a state-wide CMCO was not warranted, as it still had many green and yellow zones. The state government is to submit a counter-proposal to the NSC.

Lim, however, said the coronavirus could spread quickly in a densely populated state like Selangor.

“Selangor is the engine of the country’s growth. If the government does not take improved measures, it is doubtful the number of cases can be reduced soon.

“Infections are driven by people. Only by reducing interactions can the pandemic be controlled.

“If economic activities continue (without restrictions), everyone will continue to move about, and the virus will spread easily,” Lim added.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a live telecast on October 6 that the government will not return to a full-scale lockdown such as the MCO as it would hurt the country’s economy.

Lim said it was hard to say if such a promise could be kept, for if the number of cases continued to rise, the return of a nationwide lockdown is not impossible.

For now, a CMCO is valid, especially for non-essential sectors. Stringent crowd control must be in place for crowded spaces such as shopping venues and markets, he said.

“I believe the government has more data and knows whether it can be controlled. If there is no way, it is better to have short-term pain rather than long-term pain. Implementing a conditional lockdown or suspending things is beneficial to everyone.”

Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said Malaysia’s third wave with the bulk of cases from Sabah showed that the standard operating procedure during the state elections had not been enforced rigorously.

He also said the government should do more to control imported cases stemming from illegal entries along Sabah’s porous border by migrants from the Philippines and Indonesia.

“The government spends billions yearly to maintain the operation of the Eastern Sabah Security Zone, but why are there still many undocumented migrants sneaking in and bringing in the virus?

“The relevant units must also review their actions,” Lee said.

He also urged the Health Ministry to be transparent and quicker with the latest information on the spread of the pandemic.

Recent Covid-19 cases in shopping malls had the public scrambling to verify the information online, whereas the ministry could have made announcements so people could decide whether they should go to such locations.

Lee also suggested that rules and SOP be ready and posted online for the public to view once the minister makes an announcement.

He called for greater coordination among agencies, as announcements are sometimes ambiguous on certain details, causing confusion between the public and law enforcement officials. – October 14, 2020.