By Yasmin Ramlan
SHAH ALAM, Dec 30 — Amid the spike in Covid-19 cases, including in Selangor, Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said the government does not have to impose strict measures in the state despite it having the highest recorded cases.
In fact, the public should be well informed on how to protect themselves from the virus, as the world has been grappling with the pandemic for the past four years.
“The pattern in Selangor might follow the anticipated national trend. It would depend on local factors, including community transmission rates and individual behaviour.
“How well the public adheres to public health advice and guidelines will be a determining factor,” she told Selangor Journal.
Dr Azizan was referring to Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad’s statement on the number of Covid-19 cases expected to drop in January.
Elaborating further, she said if everyone does their part by practising the 3S, 3W and TRIIS (test, report, isolate, inform, and seek treatment), which was commonly highlighted during the pandemic, Malaysia can expect cases to decrease fairly quickly.
“Like the common flu, we can expect cases of Covid-19 to go up from time to time. But we should know what we need to do individually to protect against Covid-19 by now, after four years of the pandemic.
“There is no need for any micro-management or imposition of strict measures by the government,” Dr Azizan said.
Effective Covid-19 management involves a combination of public health guidelines, community compliance, and ongoing monitoring.
“Management of Covid-19 is everyone’s responsibility. This is how we should be moving on concerning Covid-19,” she said.
Previously, Dr Dzulkefly said Covid-19 cases increased by 29.5 per cent in Epidemiological Week 51 (December 17 to December 22), with a total of 22,413 cases compared to 17,307 cases in the preceding week.
However, the current Covid-19 situation is being monitored based on four criteria, namely the number of infection cases, deaths, admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU), and the burden faced by health facilities, especially hospitals.
