Health minister on Covid-19: We're now in late containment stage
CORONAVIRUS | Health Minister Adham Baba said Malaysia has now entered the late containment stage of the Covid-19 outbreak.
"We have the onset phase, the (early) containment phase, the late containment phase and finally the mitigation phase.
"Now, we have entered the late containment. Due to the 428 cases, we have entered the late containment stage and we need to take drastic action," he said...
CORONAVIRUS | Health Minister Adham Baba said Malaysia has now entered the late containment stage of the Covid-19 outbreak.
"We have the onset phase, the (early) containment phase, the late containment phase and finally the mitigation phase.
"Now, we have entered the late containment. Due to the 428 cases, we have entered the late containment stage and we need to take drastic action," he told a press conference which was aired live on Facebook.
Three days ago, Adham said Malaysia was still in the early containment phase.
The phases are listed according to the increasing severity of a particular disease outbreak.
"We will use the law to issue observation orders under Section 15(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease Act 1988," he added.
Section 15(1) of the law states "An authorised officer may order any contact to undergo observation in such place and for such period as he may think fit, or to undergo surveillance until he may be discharged without danger to the public".
Section 15(2) also allows an authorised officer to use "force as may be necessary" to ensure compliance with the order.
The particular section does not provide for a specific penalty but Section 24 provides a "general penalty" of up to two years imprisonment or a fine or both for the first offence and imprisonment up to five years, a fine or both for subsequent offences.
The general penalty is for any offence listed in the act where a specific penalty is not given.
"They have no excuse, they will be tracked," said Adham (photo).
The Covid-19 outbreak has significantly worsened following infections linked to a tabligh gathering at a mosque in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.
Some 16,000 people attended the four-day gathering beginning Feb 27. An estimated 14,500 people in the gathering were Malaysians while 1,500 are foreigners.
The Health Ministry is trying to track down the participants but not all have given their cooperation.
Today, a total of 190 new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia were reported, the highest single-day increase on record since the beginning of the outbreak in late January.
Adham said the majority of the new 190 cases were traced to the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering.
Track Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia here.
Report this comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.