SOP fatigue behind surge

PETALING JAYA: Complacency towards the standard operating procedure (SOP) is one of the main factors that the daily Covid-19 cases are rising again, say health experts.

They are of the view that this could be due to “SOP fatigue”.

Furthermore, the public could take part in socio-economic activities, which have begun at full scale again, they said.

Volunteers For Community Engagement and Empowerment For Covid-19 chairman Datuk Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said that it is almost impossible to ensure strict adherence to the SOP, especially during gatherings or events.

“Even in public places such as public transportation, theme parks and malls, (the managements) are not doing proper enforcement and monitoring of SOP,” he said.

Malaysia, he said, would continue to record an increasing number of new infections for some time due to the opening up of more sectors, the hosting of public and social events, and cross-border travel for holidays.

However, he believed that the vaccination programme, enforcement of guidelines and continuous surveillance of cases and variants would be important.

“The government has to monitor, anticipate and prepare for an upsurge in cases. We can’t leave it to chance,” he said, adding that the public should go for self-testing and quarantine if they were found positive.

The epidemiologist and public health expert also said that the authorities must share the statistics of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) to solidify confidence among the public in getting booster shots.

Last week, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that the Omicron wave had begun in Malaysia and that the number of cases would rise.

He, however, said that the situation was under control as the country had a high vaccination rate.

Daily infections in Malaysia have been on an uptrend since mid-January.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia health economics, hospital and health management Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh said that the new cases might be caused by variants such as Omicron and Delta.

She added that most of the cases might have occurred through close contacts, adding that they were also mostly Category One and Two, which were low risk.

“The rise in cases can be attributed to new clusters from the working and education sectors,” she said.

Prof Sharifa, however, believed that going to an endemic stage, the number of daily cases is not a sufficient indicator as many cases will exhibit milder symptoms such as coughs.

“So, a more robust indicator would include cases under severe categories, the number of admission into intensive care units, percentage of beds devoted to Covid-19 patients and deaths due to Covid-19,” she added.

As for the increase in daily infections, Prof Sharifa also attributed it to the public being lax with the SOP, especially at work and at educational institutions.

As people want to have “more freedom” socio-economically, she said that the least they could do is to continue observing Covid-19 guidelines, carry out self-testing and get vaccine booster shots.

“The third dose is highly encouraged for adults who are at high risk,” she added.

“The protection by two (primary) doses have been shown to wane and may expose people to the virus.”