THE Malaysian Government must take the necessary precautions when it comes to the entry of travelers from India, now that the COVID-19 infection rate in India has set records yesterday with more than 2,000 deaths in 24 hours.
India has been in the grips of a second wave of infections blamed on lax government rules and a new ‘double mutant’ virus variant, adding almost 3.5 million new cases in this month alone.
In the recent weeks, countries like New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Pakistan have made the difficult but necessary decision to suspended entry of travelers from the country.
Seeing as to how at least 53 passengers on a flight from New Delhi to Hong Kong have recently been tested positive for COVID-19, this is a good move indeed.
Relating to this matter, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak earlier this week has called for a mandatory quarantine period of 14 days to be imposed on international visitors, especially those from India.
The current mandatory quarantine period is seven days.
He said more than 60% of new COVID-19 cases from India were from the ‘double mutant’ variant and experts have raised red flags over their faster rate of transmission.
Worse, most of the infected are youth, and those who fall sick are also tougher to treat when compared to other variants. In fact, experts are also uncertain if present COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the new India variant.
Despite the red flags, Malaysia’s National Security Council had reported that many visitors are still arriving from India, and this is a matter of great concern.
The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Malaysia are already seeing an uptick since April 15, with more than 2,000 cases recorded every day. What would happen if this ‘double mutant’ variant finds its way onto Malaysian soil?
With its high transmissibility, this variant would surely have a devastating effect on the country, which is already grappling with the possibilities of a fourth wave of infections.
With its faster rate of transmission, the number of cases would surely see a drastic increase if this ‘double mutant’ variant finds its way onto Malaysian soil. Is this risk really worth it after all the effort being put into curbing the spread of COVID-19 in Malaysia? – April 24, 2021
