Experts tell why people are willing to flout Covid-19 rules

 

The availability of the vaccine has made many people careless.

KUCHING: The arrival of Covid-19 vaccines, a perception that the pandemic is a temporary phenomenon and the general apathy of Malaysians are among the reasons that people have returned to holding and attending social events, say experts.

Geshina Ayu Mat Saat.

Psychologist and criminologist Geshina Ayu Mat Saat of Universiti Sains Malaysia said people are becoming complacent, believing that they will be supported by good government healthcare which will improve their chances of survival. The availability of Covid-19 vaccines has also made many careless.

“Besides, public apathy such as a lack of interest in news and issues raised in the local and international platforms also leads to the increase of clusters linked to social gatherings.

“For some people, what is raised in the news is seen to be part of a political agenda and government manipulation despite the importance of such news or messages,” she told FMT.

Clinical psychologist Lum Khay Xian of Relate Mental Health Malaysia feels that such complacency could be due to behavioural fatigue, where people are tired of the various rules to prevent Covid-19 infections, and the lack of motivation to adhere to these rules.

“Some may struggle to comply with SOPs and try to gain some sense of normality through social events and gatherings,” she said, adding others may perceive that they will not get infected with Covid-19, a condition known as optimism bias.

Lum Khay Xian.

She said optimism bias could be due to several factors, such as the news about vaccination, reduced coverage of Covid-19 in the media, and lower numbers of cases.

“This could lead to the perception that they are at a lower risk of infection, and may consider complying with the SOPs as less important than before,” she said.

However, criminologist P Sundramoorthy said the low level of consciousness of public health and safety and a lack of integrity are among the main reasons people still do things that are not allowed.

He said they failed to weigh the pros and cons in making decisions and don’t realise that it only takes a few mistakes to cause serious damage, such as causing a new cluster.

“Some people are willing to take a risk and break the rules when they know the chances of being caught or detected by enforcement agencies are minimal – especially with family gatherings and birthday parties held in private residences and premises.

“Thus, the increase in clusters that came from social gatherings,” he said.

“This is the general attitude of people in Malaysia, not only during the pandemic but in many aspects of their daily life, like when they are on the roads, where they blatantly violate traffic rules.”

P Sundramoorthy.

He said this was also the reason that Malaysia has one of the highest death rates in Asia from road accidents.

“Such attitudes and behaviour cannot be changed overnight. The only way is to increase enforcement significantly,” he said.

“Besides, we should really start educating the young about the importance of integrity – we never know what’s next after Covid-19. Will there be another pandemic? When we have a generation with high integrity, we can ensure high compliance with various laws and rules, which will help to reduce casualties,” he added.

Last week, health minister Dr Adham Baba said the spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak since the start of the year has been worrying, adding that the ministry is taking steps to stem the increase.

He said Sarawak recorded 39 community clusters in the last four months, 21 of which came from social gatherings. He said there were also 17 active workplace clusters in the state at present. - FMT