KUALA LUMPUR – The government did not initially require those returning from Sabah before September 27 to undergo quarantine as doing so would have necessitated a similar policy in other states.
In a parliamentary reply yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof said such a move would have been impractical.
He added that, as per the government’s standard operating procedure, only individuals returning from abroad must be quarantined.
“Take Kedah for example. Before the spike in cases in Sabah, Kedah was a red zone due to the spread of Covid-19 stemming from the Sivagangga cluster.
“If the 14-day mandatory quarantine had been implemented, everyone leaving Kedah would have had to have been quarantined, too.
“This is not practical and is beyond the health service’s capability to implement,” he said yesterday.
Redzuan was responding to a question from Steven Sim Chee Keong (PH-Bukit Mertajam) on why only individuals returning to West Malaysia beginning September 27 had to undergo Covid-19 test and quarantine.
He said that this was despite those returnees being high-risk individuals.
The country’s Covid-19 third wave has been identified to have stemmed from Sabah, following the state by-election that concluded on September 26.
The government did not initially compel those returning to the peninsula to undergo the mandatory home quarantine, but a spike in cases later forced the administration to implement the ruling.
Redzuan said policies and actions taken by the government in regard to the curbing of Covid-19 spread is based on the Health Ministry's advice. – The Vibes, December 15, 2020
