Whole of society approach needed to battle virus, say experts

PETALING JAYA: Speak out when you see someone not following Covid-19 precautions, say health experts.

They implored Malaysians to be proactive by advising those who do not follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) or by reporting them to the authorities.

Public health specialist Asst Prof Dr Mohammad Farhan Rusli from the International Islamic University of Malaysia said the public should be community monitors and point out those who do not abide by the SOP.

“We must also be brave to tell them to comply with the SOP.

It is no longer about safeguarding one person but an entire country and, ultimately, the entire world.

“What we do has a butterfly effect on the whole pandemic response, ” he said yesterday.

Dr Mohammad Farhan said people should not let themselves be overcome with pandemic fatigue but need to soldier on.

Covid-19 cases in the country have skyrocketed since the beginning of April, when more than 1,500 cases were recorded daily.

For the past week, Malaysia has been seeing nearly or more than 4,000 daily cases.

Last Saturday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said most hospitals in the Klang Valley had used up all their intensive care unit (ICU) beds to treat Covid-19 cases while other hospitals around the country had surpassed 70% usage of ICU beds.

He warned that the number of new cases would breach 5,000 daily by the end of this month unless Malaysians do their part and break the chain of infection.

Dr Mohammad Farhan said battling the rising rate of infections would require a whole of society and government approach.

“We need to reduce the numbers by ensuring those who were exposed from high-risk areas, from known clusters, to get themselves tested.

“If you have symptoms you also need to get tested.

“Ultimately, no matter what your status, the SOP must be followed, ” said Dr Mohammad Farhan, who is with the Selangor Covid-19 Task Force Committee.

Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia president Dr Raj Kumar Maharajah urged the public to be “more serious and responsible”.

“I think it is time we caution fellow citizens who break the SOP.

“We need to speak up and not just depend on the authorities for enforcement, ” he said.

He added that these incidents could be recorded and highlighted on social media by tagging enforcement authorities so that action could be taken.

Dr Raj stressed that the government, too, should lead by example by meting out punishment to any minister who flouted the SOP, adding that enforcement should be enhanced and must be fair.

The only way to fight the pandemic, said Universiti Malaya Department of Social and Preventive Medicine Faculty of Medicine’s Prof Dr Moy Foong Ming, was through public health measures that make up the current SOP.

“We observe that the spikes of transmission usually occur when the movement control order and conditional MCO is lifted and when more economic sectors reopen, ” she said.

However, she acknowledged that the MCO could not be a long-term measure due to its impact on the country’s economy and livelihood of the people.

“We have to accept the fact that the virus will co-exist with us and the only way to win over it is to practise public health measures such as wearing masks, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and avoiding crowded places, as our new norm, ” she said.

Dr Moy added that small sacrifices like staying home and avoiding crowded places were meant for people to protect themselves and their loved ones.

She also urged the government to ensure acceptance of and compliance with the SOP.

Additionally, she said Covid-19 testing should be increased, including improving surveillance and contact tracing, as well as increasing genome surveillance to detect variants of concern that are more infectious and severe in their manifestation.

She called on the public to take the Covid-19 situation seriously and to understand the need to comply with the SOP.

“People should be aware that if the healthcare system is overburdened with Covid-19 cases, surgeries and care for other diseases may have to be deferred.

“Then these patients will not receive proper treatment and other problems will arise.

“Everyone needs to play their role.

“Stop the transmission of the virus, and get vaccinated in order for herd immunity to happen, ” she said.