Do not inconvenience oneself by being caught during CMCO

The public should not complicate situation and creates problems for themselves at a time when the country is battling the COVID-19 pandemic by not complying with the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), leading to them being arrested and then charged in court.

Hence, the public is often reminded of the need to observe the CMCO regulations as it is intended to keep the entire community protected from the COVID-19 infection.

However, due to the stubbornness of some quarters, the government has to deploy more compliance operations task force personnel at shopping malls and supermarkets, especially at business premises having sales promotions, to avoid violation of the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the CMCO.

Although there is no law that prohibits bringing children to shopping malls, parents should be more aware of the current situation where it is not safe to bring along children to crowded places.

The public should get use to the new normal which requires high level of discipline, like social distancing and taking on the social responsibility to help break the chain of the COVID-19 infection.

Be aware that the selfish and irresponsible attitude in not complying to the CMCO regulations is not only self-destructive but can be detrimental to the society.

With about 10 days left for Muslims in the country to celebrate the Aidilfitri, the National Security Council (MKN) has decided to limit visits in conjunction with Aidilfitri, as well as Kaamatan and Gawai to only the first day of the festivals, and should involve only close family members and up to a maximum of 20 people per day.

This is in line with Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s statement that based on the COVID-19 modelling and projection done by the Health Ministry’s (MOH) National Institute of Health (NIH), Malaysia could see a sudden spike in infections in mid-June if the people failed to abide by the SOP for CMCO.

He said currently, the COVID-19 R-nought (R0) value indicating new infections from a single case had been reduced to 0.3 from 3.5 in the early stage of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

However, if the people are complacent and violate the SOP, he said, the R0 value will rise again and if it reaches the warning level of 1.6, the MCO might be imposed again.

Based on the projection, MOH also expects Malaysia to achieve single digit in new cases in one week’s time if the people continue to adhere to the CMCO SOP.

We may not be able to assist the frontliners in the technical aspects of health, but by adhering to the stipulated CMCO SOP, the goal of breaking the chain of the deadly virus infection can be achieved.

-- BERNAMA