Newly minted Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu has questioned Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s recent directive to reopen cinemas and not gyms and outdoor sports.
“Cinema opened? Gym and outdoor sports? Please Khairy, there needs to be wisdom in our decisions,” he tweeted.
Yesterday, the government announced the reopening of most entertainment and art sectors to fully vaccinated individuals in all states beginning this Thursday (Sept 9).
This includes indoor performance activities, cinemas, museums, and art galleries.
The decision was made as part of a government effort to stimulate the economic activities of the creative industry.
Meanwhile, former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman shared Faizal’s sentiment and slammed the government’s decision.
“Cinemas can now be opened but open-aired gyms and football fields remain closed.
“It seems the government prioritises the entertainment industry over the sports industry and health of the rakyat,” he tweeted.
He later clarified that he was not against the reopening of entertainment sectors but empathised with football field operators who are on the verge of bankruptcy due to closures.
Meanwhile, experts have maintained differing opinions over the Covid-19 risks posed by cinemas and gyms - even for fully vaccinated individuals - claiming one is riskier than the other.
UC Davis Health expert Natascha Tuznik claimed that cinemas posed a lesser risk of transmission than gyms as people do not converse with each other, and they face the same direction, thus reducing transmission risks.
This differed from gyms where people breathe heavily and sweat.
In a Covid-19 risk chart made by American infectious disease epidemiologist Saskia Popescu, gyms are classified as “medium-high risk" due to their high respiratory rate, difficulty to wear a mask, potential clustering of people, and high touch surfaces.
However, she classified cinemas as “high risk" - a category higher than gyms.
This is as it involves being in an enclosed space for a prolonged period, leading to the potential clustering of people and may include high touch surfaces. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.