State of emergency saved us, DG says it again

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today denied that the emergency proclamation had failed to curb daily Covid-19 cases, saying it had helped postpone elections in several areas.

At a press conference, he said the emergency ordinance had been used to avert the by-election in Batu Sapi to prevent an explosion of daily cases due to mass gatherings, citing as an example the state election in Sabah last year.

“We can see from the implications of the Sabah state election, the spread of infection after the polls to the peninsula and other states.”

He added that it had helped avert the state election in Sarawak, which would otherwise be held in June.

Noor Hisham also emphasised the importance of MCO 3.0, the moniker for the third instalment of movement control order since the first outbreak of Covid-19 last year.

He said this and the emergency ordinance were implemented to arrest any further increase in daily Covid-19 cases, as new variants are being detected in the country.

He reiterated that Malaysia should learn from India’s recent surge in cases, most of which have been linked to mass gatherings at elections and religious events.

“We are using the emergency ordinance to prevent elections as cases are increasing tremendously and we have recently found new variants.

“We implement MCO so we can help the health ministry,” he said, adding that the people should stay home so that the outbreak can be contained within two to four weeks.