Letter to Editor
By Dr Shawaludin Husin
THE Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH) is closely following the Malaysian Government’s move to impose a 14-day enhanced movement control order (EMCO) starting tomorrow in almost all districts and mukims in the Klang Valley to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
We are of the opinion that the move is not only desirable, but it should have been done earlier, considering the number of workplace clusters in the state, besides the fact that the virus is already in the community.
It is unfortunate that several MCOs, a tighter MCO and subsequently, a so-called full MCO (FMCO) did nothing to reduce the number of infections to the point where Selangor and Kuala Lumpur continue to become the main contributors of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
This is due to the overly broad use of the term ‘essential services’ which the Government has interpreted to mean making room for non-health and essential needs sectors such as the aerospace sector to operate at a 60% capacity to this day.
At this phase, it is important to ensure that only essential services are allowed to operate.
The Government should not bow to the demands of employers, including factory operators or construction site managers should there be any applications to physically re-open their businesses during the 14-day period of the EMCO.
Based on feedback from MSOSH, the increase in cases in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur within this one-month period has resulted in burnout among employees in the public health sector.
Both frontliners and support staff need to be healthy to make sure that the country can emerge from the crisis.
The implementation of the EMCO is therefore very critical. It should not be teeming with non-essential sectors that were given the green light to operate.
The Government is thus responsible for ensuring that this would be managed properly, including in matters related to monitoring and enforcement.
In addition to having enforcement officers at grocery stores and at roadblocks, enforcement officers should also be placed at factories that are still allowed to operate.
During the EMCO period, MSOSH urges the Government to continue boosting the COVID-19 vaccination rate. It has been understood that the daily vaccination rate will reach 200,000 shots per day across the country this month, whereby the people in Selangor are expected to receive 130,000 jabs per day.
This is the best opportunity for the Government to focus on administering the vaccines to the country’s most populous state in the country.
According to statistics by the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK), a total of two million or 100% of the population in Kuala Lumpur have registered to be vaccinated, while 85% of Selangor’s six million residents have also done so.
Should both Selangor and Kuala Lumpur be able to achieve herd immunity as soon as possible, the economic and socioeconomic impact of the coronavirus on the country can be avoided, and this will be a reprieve for our health sector as well.
MSOSH would like to urge the Government to ensure the success of the EMCO in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur and take seriously the critical state of the public health sector, which could be crippled if the COVID-19 cases in both areas continue to show no sign of abating. – July 2, 2021.
Dr Shawaludin Husin is the president of MSOSH and an Occupational Health specialist.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
