YOURSAY | It’s time to do away with outdoor masking too

YOURSAY | ‘We should leave masking to only while indoors.’

MOH proposes doing away with temperature checks, visitor logbooks

Man On The Street: Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, you need to change the "scientists" dealing with this in your ministry.

The recommendation to do away with temperature checking should have been made a year ago. Most of us, even those with any common sense, had figured this out early last year. We didn't need your highly-paid officers to tell us that.

The same goes for mask usage at parks, beaches and other non-crowded outdoor venues. Take a walk on the beach with the wind blowing in your hair and see how ridiculous you feel with a mask on.

Science has shown minimal risks in well-ventilated spaces. Are your highly qualified "science and evidenced-based" officers going to wait another year or two before they "discover" that masks are no longer necessary in open spaces?

The standard operating procedures (SOPs) are becoming academic and suffocating. Just look around you. The one-metre distancing is no longer practised by politicians and the common man alike! It’s no longer logical and practical to behave this way.

The rakyat should now be taught to become responsible for their own safety.

With Omicron being highly transmissible anyway and a largely vaccinated population, it’s only the highly vulnerable population that should continue wearing masks and avoid high-risk situations like crowds in enclosed spaces.

Education, not enforcement, is key in what is clearly becoming an endemic phase.

BlueParrot8009: Khairy, so only after two years, the Health Ministry is now saying an elevated temperature does not automatically signify a Covid-19 infection.

A more sensible and necessary change to SOPs is to do away with mandatory masking in outdoor settings. Natural ventilation and sunshine are poor conditions for the virus to thrive.

Western countries have already allowed this, why can't we? Show some sense and courage to review this part of the existing SOPs. Leave masking to only while indoors.

Pahlawan Volunteer: Common sense has prevailed at long last. Having high fever does not mean you have Covid-19. It could be anything.

The manufacturers of these temperature checkers had a good run these two years, thanks to the Health Ministry which couldn’t see beyond its nose.

Guglu: @Pahlawan Volunteer, temperature check is a deterrent for those who got Covid-19 from going out and infecting people.

There was one person in my village who despite not being well and having a Covid-19 positive son, went to a surau and chatted with my cousin.

My cousin tested positive a few days later. He was hospitalised and passed away four weeks after that.

One person is enough to infect the entire village. To stop that one person from doing so, we must accept the inconvenience of temperature check.

GreenBear2417: These temperature scanners never show the correct temperature anyway.

They should have been discontinued a long time ago, before some people made a lot of money selling them to the helpless rakyat.

Xenobio: I rode my bicycle to a cafe this afternoon to get an iced coffee and not surprisingly, the thermometer sounded the alarm when I walked in after exercising in the hot sun.

I had to turn on MySejahtera app and was very annoyed that we were still required to check-in. What's the point of having an automatic Bluetooth tracking function if we still have to scan QR codes?

Those of us who are willing to "sacrifice" our battery life should be compensated.

Public Transit Is Better Than Highways: “We will suggest to the National Security Council (NSC) to do away with the logbooks because I can tell you that we don’t use the books for contact tracing.

“I’m sure they (contact tracers) have used it (the books) but not extensively,” Khairy said.

This government is too generous to assume that everyone has a smartphone. Isn't this just further segregation between those who are able to use mobile phones and those who can't or are unable to do so?

What if you don't have a phone, or if your mobile phone is faulty? That single-point-of-failure would be the downfall of your highly-praised MySejahtera system.

I have encountered many problems accessing facilities with arbitrary rules created when they are out of line with national SOPs set by the NSC.

Not every venue needs to check for your 'low risk' status, but some venues insist on doing so, effectively alienating those who don't have a phone or can't use one.

Jimi: Indeed, not everyone has a smartphone. Not everyone should have to have a smartphone. It is ridiculous and elitist to assume that everyone can afford one, to assume that elderly people want to - or can - learn how to use one.

There needs to be a non-digital option for people to sign into places.

Clever Voter: Humans are not good at adapting. Perhaps seeing is believing and there must be deterrent through proper enforcement.

But the entire system is so corrupt that the obedient ones feel that they are short-changed and question why they should bother following SOPs when we have others who don’t care. You can see this at eateries and recreational centres.

Doing away with temperature scanning is probably timely but preventing a huge Omicron wave requires self-discipline and behavioural changes.

Societies are almost the same everywhere. For those responsible, prevention is better than cure. The Health Ministry must continue to educate and appropriate agencies must enforce rules consistently and fairly. - Mkini