Covid-19-positive voters must wear face masks

PETALING JAYA: Covid-19-positive voters intending to cast their ballots on Saturday must wear face masks, says Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic).

“The Health Ministry has taken the initiative to advise members of the public to adhere to health recommendations.

“This is to ensure the voting process is conducted smoothly, particularly in terms of reducing the spread of Covid-19.

“Among them is that individuals who are Covid-19 positive are required to wear face masks while it is highly recommended for the other voters to do so,” the Health director-general said in a statement yesterday.

He added that voters who tested positive for Covid-19 must ensure physical distancing when at the polling stations.

He said Covid-19-positive voters would also be barred from using public transportation, including e-hailing services, when travelling to vote.

“Covid-19-positive voters are not allowed to stop anywhere before and after voting and must return immediately after casting their ballots,” he said.

Prior to this, the Health Ministry submitted recommendations on Covid-19 preventive measures to the Election Commission (EC).

The recommendations include the setting up of special booths or lanes for Covid-19 voters.

On Nov 2, the EC announced that it had no plans to impose Covid-19 standard operating procedure for GE15.

The EC said that no Covid-19 screenings would be carried at the polling stations or the setting up of special tents.

The EC added that it was up to individuals to take the necessary precautions but recommended that those in the high-risk groups wear face masks at the voting centres.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said the number of Covid-19 deaths almost doubled to 53 cases last week compared with the previous week despite a recent drop in infections.

“New cases for (epidemiological week) ME45/2022 (last week) decreased by 13.4% from 26,616 cases the previous week to 23,045 cases while local infections also decreased by 13.4% from 26,577 cases to 23,027 cases.

“The number of deaths for the same period increased by 82.8% from 29 cases to 53,” he said.

Although there has been a decrease in infections, the number of daily active cases last week increased by 1.7% to 33,449 cases against 34,033 the previous week.

The Health Ministry’s KKMNow portal said 2,234 new Covid-19 infections were recorded on Sunday.

This brings the total to 4,948,817 cases since the pandemic began.