CORONAVIRUS | Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang said he believes that Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah would make a better health minister.

This is after Health Minister Dr Adham Baba was embroiled in another gaffe and the DAP veteran expressed scepticism at his explanation.

"There will be universal approval, not only in the country but outside, if Noor Hisham Abdullah replaces him as health minister," Lim said in a statement today.

Lim was referring to Adham's gaffe where the minister said he was in a video conference with the World Health Organisation (WHO) comprising "500 countries".

The comment had sparked ridicule on social media. The United Nations has 193 countries as members.

Adham later clarified that he misspoke and had meant to say "500 participants".

However, Lim called Adham's explanation "unbelievable".

"This seems to be quite a whopper, for a meeting with 500 participants will go against one of the most important rules of Covid-19 era – social distancing.

"Let Adham (photo) give details and provide evidence of such a conference or video meeting where there were 500 participants.

"If he cannot do so, maybe he should tender his resignation from the cabinet," he said.

Following the gaffe, Adham became the number three most popular search item in Malaysia on Google yesterday.

According to Google Trends, more than 10,000 lookups were made about the health minister.

The number item was "How many countries in the world" with more than 20,000 searches and the number two item was about the "One World: Together at Home" virtual concert.

The debacle comes barely a month since the minister faced some heat after spreading misinformation by suggesting that drinking warm water would prevent Covid-19 infection. 

During a live TV screening of an interview, Adham said the virus behind the Covid-19 outbreak “doesn’t like high temperatures” and advocated drinking warm water as means of prevention.


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