Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal has defended the government's move to ban outdoor exercise in areas under the third movement control order (MCO 3.0).
This is amid criticism from medical experts on the move, who argued that the Covid-19 risk from outdoor exercise was low.
In a tweet last night, Wan Fayhsal (above) stressed that a thorough evaluation had been carried out by the Health Ministry and National Security Council (NSC) before imposing the ban.
"As sports enthusiasts, of course, we are saddened by this restriction but I’m pretty sure the Health Ministry and NSC have deployed all necessary scientific tools and dataset before arriving at this decision.
"Hopefully things will get better," he said in response to criticism.
The decision to ban all sports and recreational activities under the MCO 3.0 was made yesterday, with guidelines updated last night.
Subang Jaya assemblyperson Michelle Ng replied to Wan Fayhsal on Twitter saying that barring outdoor activities to prevent Covid-19 was "unscientific".
To this, the deputy minister shot back: "Are you saying the Health Ministry's method is unscientific?"
In a separate tweet, Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, who is a professor of infectious diseases and member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Science Council, however, argued that outdoor exercise is safe during the pandemic.
"The risk of getting Covid-19 outdoors is (about) 18 times lower than indoors.
"Please let the rakyat continue to jog, cycle, play football or any other outdoor sports for the sake of our physical and mental health," she said.
Former Health deputy director-general Dr Christopher Lee likewise said outdoor exercise was relatively safe.
"Let science guide our rulings. As long as physical distancing is practised, the risk of outdoor spread is low.
"There has also been no major cluster linked to outdoor exercise and non-contact sports. Let science lead," he tweeted.
The MCO is in force in Kuala Lumpur, Kelantan, and parts of Selangor, Johor, Perak, Terengganu, and Kedah.
It came amid a continued rise in Covid-19 cases nationwide. There were 3,551 new cases yesterday, with active cases at 33,762. - Mkini
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