WITH COVID-19 ravaging workplaces and affecting more young people, health experts warned employers and youths to take the pandemic crisis seriously.
“Employers have this misconception that if their exposed workers suffers no symptoms, there is no need for them to quarantine and they are ordered back to work. This is a fallacy.
“COVID-19 is a serious matter. If cases are still rising and your employee was exposed, they should not be forced to go to office,” Perdana University Epidemiology & Public Health Medicine academic lead Prof Dr Mohamed Rusli Abdullah told FocusM.
Yesterday, Health Ministry director general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah warned youngsters to follow standard operating procedure (SOP) strictly as more youths are contracting the coronavirus.
He added that last Saturday recorded the highest number of COVID-19 infections involving those aged between 20 and 39, with many ending up needing treatment in ICUs.
Noor Hisham added that the COVID-19 variants from the UK, South Africa, Nigeria and India have also been detected in the country.
Rusli said that many employers have this mindset that working from home (WFH) affects productivity, which is not the case most times.
“For example, with WFH, employees have to constantly provide reports on their daily tasks, which gets very tedious.
“Leaving that aside, employers need to assess the risk of exposing their staff to the coronavirus, just because they have a differing perspective when it comes to productivity,” he stated.
Rusli added that an exposed worker would not only risk their colleagues at office but the community at large, when they take public transport to work.
“Under the first movement control order (MCO 1.0), the authorities were strict on how many people can board a public transport. Take a look at our public transport now, our MRTs and LRTs are packed!
“Even the airliners have this false sense of security. While we are to follow SOP strictly before boarding a flight, once in the plane, we get seated next right next to someone that we don’t know their medical history.
“Although they clean and sanitise the plane, can that alleviate risks when we will be sitting next to another person for one hour? Plus, we’re also disallowed from moving seats to a place less congested,” he added.
As for youths, Rusli said that the former’s apathy comes from the previous statements by officials that youngsters are less likely to contract COVID-19, which has created a false sense of security among them.
Why can’t tycoons contribute?
Cautioning employers and youths, Rusli said that asymptomatic carriers are more dangerous than symptomatic ones, as they tend to lax on SOP rules.
On that note, he urged the Government to embark on a multi-sectoral approach to combat the pandemic, instead of using the old-fashioned way of designating each ministry to its own function.
“We need to plan and work together. For starters, the Government should consider providing funds to non-governmental organisations (NGO) to help raise awareness on the pandemic at the community level.
“There are already various groups working in the ground on the matter, supported by volunteers like undergraduates and those who just left university.
“But they can’t do much as funds are lacking. Our volunteers want to serve but they need money for lodging and food,” Rusli stressed.
The academic also urged Malaysian tycoons to contribute to help during the public health crisis.
“We have a lot of millionaires and billionaires in Malaysia. Why can’t they reach out to fund agencies or NGOs that need assistance?” Rusli queried.
On related matter, Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar urged youths to take precautions as the new variants put them at risk too.
“Gone are the days where youngsters are less susceptible to COVID-19. Now, everyone is at risk due to the new variants.
“So, please follow the SOP strictly, including children. We cannot rest on our laurels until at least 60% of the population is vaccinated,” he stressed.
Zainal also urged the Government to speed up the mass inoculation programme as the coronavirus is mutating fast.
“If we don’t vaccinate fast enough, we may need to revaccinate the public again as the virus mutates itself,” he remarked. – May 16, 2021
