THE Federal Government and the Health Ministry should start phasing out the need for the public to “check in” on their MySejahtera app now that Malaysia is entering the endemic phase of COVID-19, said Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.
This is in line with the Government’s plan to open up borders and lessen restrictions on COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“The main purpose for the ‘check in’ feature was for contact tracing and it was important then, when our COVID-19 strategy was all about containment and mitigation,” Yii said in a statement.
“However now that quarantine is no longer required for close contacts and the testing strategy is only for the symptomatic, the ‘check in’ function has little epidemiological value.
“So while privacy may be one argument against the need for continuous ‘surveillance’ the main issue is the epidemiological value it adds especially when it comes to protocols during endemicity.”
Pointing to how millions of Malaysians had rigorously obliged with the Government’s directive to “check in” on the MySejahtera app with many even fined thousands of ringgit for failing to comply, Yii went urge the Government to clarify the number of COVID-19 cases that were detected through MySejahtera’s contact-tracing mechanism.
“This will also help address some of the concerns the public may have when it comes to data privacy and data ownership as such ‘check in’ or ‘surveillance’ data is no longer inputted into the app,” Yii said.
“Therefore, the Government must clarify all the concerns being raised and allow all deals concerning MySejahtera to be investigated through an independent commission to ensure the strictest governance and accountability especially when it comes to dealing with highly sensitive personal data.”
Yii was however quick to point out that this does not mean that the MySejahtera app does not have a role to play in the future especially when it comes to pandemic management.
“Such contact-tracing features could be upgraded in preparation for future pandemics and could only be reactivated when the time comes to ensure that we do not fall behind again in controlling the spread of any infectious diseases,” he noted.
As the country moves into the endemic phase, Yii believes that the COVID-19 management strategy must change as well and that the different requirements by the Government must be backed by data and science as well as epidemiological value.
“This is why I strongly believe that the Government must phase out the ‘check-in’ function of MySejahtera and divert all the extra millions of ringgit intended to upgrade the app and investing it instead into the country’s healthcare system capacity.” – March 30, 2022
