Ramasamy calls on health minister to apologise for Covid-19 'warm water' remarks

CORONAVIRUS | Penang deputy chief minister (II) P Ramasamy has urged Health Minister Dr Adham Baba to apologise for inaccurate information on Covid-19

In a statement today, he stressed the need for a cabinet minister to deliver accurate and responsible information.

In a recent interview with TV1,  Adham had claimed that drinking warm water would flush down the Corona-19 virus and once it goes into the stomach it would be killed off by the presence of acid.

While praising the Health Ministry, especially its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah for doing a good job in informing the public, Ramasamy urged ministers who could not do so to step aside so that the professionals can do their jobs as they have been trained to do.

"Please do not complicate matters by passing inaccurate and false information to the public," he said in a statement today.

Ramasamy said something is amiss if the health minister made a mistake in saying taking warm water would flush down the virus.

Such kind of inaccurate and non-scientific information has the potential to throw asunder the government’s present efforts in containing the virus, he warned

"It would make a mockery of the directive on movement control order. For this, it is better that Adham apologises to the Malaysian public.

"During this difficult and trying period, we don’t need ministers or those in leadership positions to take the public for granted," he added.

Ramasamy urged the ministers to pay attention to how foreign ministers in countries like South Korea, Singapore and others have brilliantly responded to the public in the containment and eradication of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Adham drew criticism from other medical professionals for making the controversial remark during the RTM’s Bicara Naratif programme on March 19.

Even Noor Hisham appeared to distance the ministry from the minister, claiming the ministry uphold evidence-based medicine as its pillar. - Mkini