KUALA LUMPUR – Outraged by the relaxation of Covid-19 quarantine rules for ministers returning from official visits abroad, Malaysians are calling for Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba’s resignation.
A federal gazette signed by him and released yesterday states that cabinet members are no longer required to undergo a 10-day quarantine upon their return home, and will instead observe just three days of observation to ensure they pose no health risk to the public.
The hashtag #AdhamBabaLetakJawatan is the top-trending one on Malaysian Twitter, followed by its English-language equivalent, #AdhamBabaOUT, and #MuhyiddinOut.
Over 7,000 posts had #AdhamBabaLetakJawatan at the time of writing.
User @Nuyenggg said the hashtag goes to show that the government has not learnt from its past mistake, in a possible reference to the lax implementation of coronavirus standard operating procedures for returnees from Sabah following the state election last September.
The polls have been blamed for Malaysia’s third Covid-19 wave, as Putrajaya initially did not require returnees to undergo quarantine, only implementing it when cases began to spike.
“Clearly someone hasn’t (learnt) anything from what has happened. Like what I’ve said alllllll the time before this; one country, two standards.”
This is not the first time that the government has received public backlash over its seeming double standards in SOP enforcement.
Last year, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali was only fined RM1,000 for breaching home quarantine.
Other ministers, too, have been let off the hook for SOP violations, including attending large gatherings, not practising social distancing, and crossing state lines.
Twitter user @noodlesofea, referring to the spate of infections among ministers last month, said: “We can barely manage the current #klustermenteri (ministers’ cluster), and yet, he wants to add #klustermenteri2?”
Another user, @FiqhTabayyun, said the new quarantine rules for cabinet members demonstrate Dr Adham’s lack of appreciation for medical frontliners.
“You, of all person, the Health Minister, is undermining their work and effort (with) this ruling.”
“People who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The fault of those at the top, and the rakyat has to suffer,” said @adambmh. – The Vibes, February 9, 2021
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