KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Malaysia could avoid facing a “tsunami†of Covid-19 cases by learning from India’s experience by not holding any elections for now including in Sarawak, and by barring interstate and inter-district travel, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.
Dr Noor Hisham was sharing the Health Ministry’s three recommendations to the National Security Council to avert such a “tsunami†of Covid-19 infections.
“We propose no interstate travel, no inter-district travel whether for ‘balik kampung’ (return to hometowns) or so on,†he said in a press conference broadcast live this evening on Covid-19 updates, his first such media appearance in about two months.
“So now for the education sector, maybe we will recommend for the holiday to be extended to the end of this month, so that they stay at home and the chain of infection can be broken,†he said of the suggestion to have school holidays until the end of May.
Another recommendation was to avoid mass gatherings, including by not holding any elections, for now, he said.
“For example, we have to learn from India, the actions that led to a ‘tsunami’ in India. What can we learn from there and avoid a ‘tsunami’ in our country?†he said.
He noted that India’s leaders had in early March announced that the Covid-19 situations there was well controlled and was expected to end, and that had led to many citizens in India not complying with precautionary measures and that there was relaxation such as gatherings for religious ceremonies and weddings and at beaches.
He said India had also carried out five state elections where there was a lack of physical distancing and wearing of face masks, noting: “We have to learn from India to avoid elections as we have seen in Sabah’s state election (last year), and we worry if we do not use the Emergency Ordinance, the Sarawak state election would have to be held, which is in June.â€