MP urges MOH to follow Singapore, reveal Covid-19 location data

 

COVID-19 | The Ministry of Health (MOH) is urged to follow Singapore's lead by releasing data on locations affected by Covid-19.

Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming said there might be an assumption that sharing such data may cause panic, but this appears to be unfounded, based on Singapore's experience.

"In fact, the regular sharing of information in a transparent manner will build public confidence in the health authorities because the public can be acclimated to expect accurate and timely information from the health authorities," Ong said.

Currently, MOH only reveals districts where certain clusters are found but it does not provide information on exact locations.

This contrasted Singapore, which publishes an up-to-date list of places visited for more than 30 minutes by those infected with Covid-19.

"This has not caused panic in Singapore but has surely built confidence over time," he said.

Ong added that providing limited location data may actually cause more distress.

"For example, if there is news that there is a case in Puchong but not identifying which part of Puchong - this may cause worry among residents in the entire Puchong area.

"Whereas if the location is identified and necessary steps are taken, then residents in the affected locations can take necessary precautions and those not located in the affected location don't need to panic unnecessarily," Ong added.

No alerts from MySejahtera

Earlier, Malaysian contract tracing application MySejahtera came under fire for not alerting users that a case was detected at certain locations when users check-in.

This was after several malls in the Klang Valley released statements to alert customers of Covid-19 infections on their premises.

In response, MySejahtera said its hotspot tracker only includes affected locations "based on an in-depth investigation by the Health Ministry on the definite and possible source of infection".

Recently, shoppers were also enraged following a case at Tesco Mutiara Damansara, where those checking in with the MySejahtera app were not alerted, although Tesco had made an announcement.

To date, the only Health Ministry agency that provides location data is the Kedah Health Department, which publishes locations of residential areas or villages where cases are detected daily.

Ong said this is a good practice which should be emulated by all other state Health Departments.

DG: State isn't empowered to do surveillance

The Bangi MP's comments came after Malaysiakini's report that Selangor was hamstrung in its fight against Covid-19 because MOH no longer shares granular data on infections.

The state also lamented how its contact tracing application SELangkah was sidelined after MySejahtera was rolled out, which further limits their data collection efforts.

The state's Selangor Task Force for Covid-19 previously used granular data on infections shared by MOH to complement public health measures.

This includes shutting down premises where an outbreak is traced and rolling out free tests for high-risk areas or populations.

Responding to Selangor, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the states are "never empowered to take on the role of surveillance and public health".

Instead, he said, the state authorities should coordinate with the state Health Departments in terms of public awareness and education.  - Mkini