Stop the blame game on Covid-19 spike

 

Dr Nor Azimi Yunus, Terengganu’s health director, blamed the people in the state for not adhering to the guidelines and causing a spike in Covid-19 cases. She said that she was alarmed but not surprised to learn that the state had one of the highest infection rates in the nation. She said the state had recorded triple-digit cases on five days in the previous week.

Nor Azimi is being disingenuous. She should not lay the blame squarely on the people. Their failure to observe the strict rules is a reflection of many things, among them the failure of the top to lead by example. There is also the failure of enforcement and failure to inform people of the dangers of the disease.

Nor Azimi listed on her Facebook account five instances of people’s disregard for the SOPs.

The first involved a gathering of 18 friends and family members in an empty house. The second was a man who tested positive but did not self-isolate, and infected others. The third was at a breaking of fast event, which was followed by discussions at a food stall. The fourth occurred at a breaking of fast event at a surau, and the last case involved the lack of a risk assessment before a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Nor Azimi must understand the concept of cause and effect.

Some ministers and senior politicians interpret the laws differently from us. They think there is one rule for them and another for the rakyat. Breaching the strict guidelines during lockdown and not being punished will cause understandable anger for those who sacrificed so much to comply with the SOPs.

These ministers may not realise, or care, that when a succession of them breach the rules, others start to think that they can also do as they please. This is a failure of leadership.

To make matters worse, some ministers were only punished after the public showed their outrage and shared photos of them enjoying large gatherings or having meals with friends and strangers, and not practising social distancing.

Punishment for leaders and politicians should have been more severe than for the ordinary people because they are supposed to lead by example.

Instead of blaming the rakyat, Nor Azimi should have blamed the irresponsibility of these leaders. She is in a strong position to do this, especially as there has been a spike in Covid-19 infections in her state.

She could have lobbied the prime minister to get his ministers to toe the line. She could also have consulted the police and ask them if enforcement could be stepped up and improved.

As some of the cases originated from prayer meetings in suraus and mosques, Nor Azimi could have informed the religious leaders that they should play a better and more active role in ensuring that worshippers adhere to the SOPs.

In their sermons, they could advise the congregation that they should not visit friends and family during festivals.

Everyone wants to see a return to normality, but that will only happen if people do their bit. During Hari Raya, some people threw caution to the wind, and their priority was to balik kampung to celebrate the festivities. Some were ignorant, thinking that prayers will protect them. Others were just plain irresponsible.

This is where Nor Azimi and her team should improve their communication about the debilitating effects of the virus. She claimed that people were not taking the pandemic seriously by acting irresponsibly. Perhaps, she could improve her information dissemination skills.

Nor Azimi was quoted as saying: “Everyone has to stay at home. There is no point having movement control order rules if people are still out having fun.

“But if the people of Terengganu feel they are immune to Covid-19, then go ahead and have fun.”

Her statement “if people feel they are immune…” is uncalled for. Even someone who has been vaccinated does not have total immunity because one can still contract Covid-19 although the symptoms may be milder.

And telling the people to “go ahead and have fun” was even more confounding.

During this epidemic, let’s not be ruled by our feelings and emotions. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.