CORONAVIRUS | Former deputy PKR Youth chief Dr Afif Bahardin has defended a proposal for barbershops to be reopened during the third phase of the movement control order (MCO).
Taking to Twitter today, he clarified that his views were made in context of a larger overall need for policies that could assist business owners to adapt to the "new normal" post-Covid-19.
"I am tweeting as the Seberang Jaya assemblyperson from PKR. I am not Azmin's officer [...].
"Please take note," said Afif (above) who mentioned an online portal that had reported on his Twitter thread yesterday in the context of showing support for International Trade and Industries Minister Azmin Ali.
His statement was made following the announcement by Azmin on Friday that barbershops will be among businesses allowed to reopen beginning April 14, after two weeks of shutdown.
Among others, the former Penang state health exco cited a clinical study from the The New England Journal of Medicine which he claimed found that cutting hair could lower high blood pressure.
His thread sparked criticisms including from those who directly referred to the original study conducted in 2018.
It was pointed out that the study was conducted in a different context to the current fear over possible Covid-19 infections in a barbershop setting.
Unlike the present situation in Malaysia, the study of black barbershops involve monitoring of patients with high blood pressure and the role of barbers to encourage them to seek medication or other lifestyle changes.
Meanwhile, Perak PKR chief Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak (photo) also highlighted that the barbershop chosen for the study was once used as an alternative location for their clients to obtain high blood pressure medication.
"I hope that politicians will be more cautious in issuing statements so as to not risk the health and lives of Malaysians in the war against Covid-19," said the aide to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.
At the daily Covid-19 press conference in Putrajaya, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob earlier today said that the announcement by Miti on permission for barbershops and hair salons to operate is not final.
According to the senior minister in charge of the security cluster, the plan was also meant only for areas considered as "green zones" by the health authorities. - Mkini
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