Umno postpones meetings to avoid Covid-19 risk

Umno is postponing meetings and assemblies for all its wings and divisions with immediate effect due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan (above) said in a statement today that party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has instructed him to inform party members of the postponement.

“This is because the number of Covid-19 cases has reached 260 today, which is the second-highest since the beginning of the outbreak.

“We cannot take the risk and we don’t want Umno to be blamed,” he said.

He said Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is the senior minister in charge of security and an Umno vice-president, also shares Zahid’s view that meetings should be postponed.

“The postponements are until a date that will be notified later,” he added.

Sabah has been experiencing a surge of Covid-19 cases since September, which has now spread to other states and territories in Malaysia and caused new clusters of infection.

Some of the cases have been linked to campaign activities in the recently concluded Sabah state election, including cases where Umno leaders have become infected.

These include Umno supreme council member Mohd Razlan Rafii and Umno Youth deputy chief Shahril Hamdan, while others such as Zahid had been ordered to undergo a 14-day quarantine after coming into close contact with Covid-19 patients.

Campaigners from PKR and Amanah were reported to have been infected as well.

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