Yet another U-turn: MKN, please get your act together

 

On May 6, the youth and sports ministry announced, after a meeting of the National Security Council, that all sports and recreational activities in open and public areas and in commercial premises or facilities would not be allowed during the latest movement control order (MCO) period.

“The consideration and decision were made based on the risk assessment by the health ministry and also the challenges as well as current developments, in line with the desire to curb the spread of Covid-19, especially within communities,” it said.

About 24 hours later, it announced that jogging and cycling would be permitted in MCO areas.

“The National Security Council (MKN) today considered the ministry’s appeal to review the decision on SOPs for the sports and recreation sector during the May 7-20 MCO period.

“Sports and recreational activities performed in open areas without physical contact such as jogging, cycling and other exercises can now be carried out with a minimum physical distancing of 1.5m in local neighbourhoods,” it said.

As usual, the reversal in directive came after Malaysians, including the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Association Malaysia, slammed the move.

Common sense would tell us that physical activity is good for health. I’m not saying that all forms of physical activities should be allowed during the MCO period. Those that involve close contact should not. But a blanket ban is a no, no.

The question arises: Don’t those in the MKN do a thorough study of the implications and ramifications of their decisions before announcing them? People are getting fed up with SOPs that keep changing and decisions that have been described as “half-baked”.

Clearly, the “standard” is missing from standard operating procedure.

The government has been quick to pride itself by saying it’s decisions in battling the Covid-19 pandemic are based on “science and data”.

Well, the earlier decision to ban all exercises outside the house was certainly not based on science and data

Here’s the science: A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows people who exercise regularly are less likely to end up in the intensive care unit (ICU) or die from Covid-19.

Researchers from the Kaiser Permanente Southern California, an integrated healthcare system, compared hospitalisation rates, ICU admissions and mortality for patients with Covid-19 who were consistently inactive, doing some activity or consistently meeting physical activity guidelines.

They identified 48,440 adults with a Covid-19 diagnosis from Jan 1, 2020, to Oct 21, 2020, who had two or more measurements of their “exercise vital sign” between March of 2018 and March of 2020.

This is what they found:

• Physical activity provided strong protection from hospitalisation, ICU admission, and death among Covid-19 patients;
• Being consistently inactive more than doubled the odds of hospitalisation compared with being consistently active;
• Patients who were consistently inactive had 1.73 times greater odds of ICU admission than patients who were consistently active;
• The odds for death were 2.49 times greater for patients who were consistently inactive compared with patients who were consistently active; and
• Other than being over age 60 or having a history of organ transplant, being consistently inactive conferred the highest risk for death from Covid-19.

The researchers advised that pandemic control recommendations include – I repeat, include – regular physical activity across all population groups.

Were our government health experts and those in the MKN unaware of this study specific to Covid-19? I suspect they would not have imposed a blanket ban on physical activity if they had read the conclusions of this study which is just a Google away.

Even if they didn’t know this, surely they’d be aware of the countless scientific studies that show those who do regular exercises are not only less likely to catch colds and other viral infections but to recover more quickly than those who don’t.

It’s clear their decision was not based on “science and data”.

I don’t wish to recount other earlier decisions of the authorities that have proven to be short-sighted or ill-conceived. You all know them.

I also don’t wish to repeat all the inconsistencies in SOPs and the double standards in implementing the SOPs. You all know them.

I just want to urge the authorities to think things through – study thoroughly the ramifications of decisions – and make decisions based on science and common sense.

If the authorities keep going like this and make life even more difficult for people who are already suffering great hardship, I’m afraid more and more members of the public will question their competency in handling the pandemic. - FMT

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