'Public sanitisation to prevent Covid-19 not backed by science'

 

There is no scientific evidence to prove the effectiveness of daily public sanitisation exercises in preventing Covid-19 infections, despite it being an ongoing practice since the start of the outbreak last year.

Astro Awani quoted Universiti Putra Malaysia public health expert associate professor Dr Malina Osman who said sanitisation only needs to be carried out based on the risk assessment of an area.

"In terms of public health, we don't need to perform routine public sanitisation.

"Periodic sanitisation of areas without any reported cases is also not recommended because the practice is not backed by scientific evidence," she said.

Even in premises or in areas with reported cases, Malina said sanitisation was only recommended for specific spots, for example, a shared work area or a common bathroom.

"There is no need to sanitise the entire building or walkways," she said.

The report also quoted updated guidelines from America's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on the disinfection and sanitisation process, taking into account scientific evidence which showed a low risk of Covid-19 infection through surface contact.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said a large-scale disinfection exercise will be carried out for two days beginning today at 284 locations nationwide following the sharp increase in new Covid-19 cases over the past few days.

She said the operation conducted by the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) would focus on Selangor which continues to record the highest number of new daily cases.

 infectious disease expert Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman

"More aggressive action must be taken and the sites to be covered include housing areas, markets and so forth.

"It is hoped that this effort will help reduce the spread of Covid-19 in the state,” said Zuraida, as quoted by Bernama, after witnessing a sanitisation exercise at a red zone locality in Kuala Lumpur.

Zuraida said 25,252 sanitation operations had been done at 156 zones since March last year, of which 120 were red zones, orange zones (14), yellow zones (15) and seven green zones as identified by the district Health Office (PKD) according to Health Ministry guidelines.

Taking to Twitter, infectious disease expert Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman hinted that the sanitisation exercises were a waste of limited resources.

"There goes resources that could be better channelled elsewhere.

"Here are a few just off the top of my head. 1. PPE 2. High flow nasal cannulas 3. Ventilators 4. O2 sat meters 5. Food for volunteers," said the World Health Organisation Science Council member.

The Health Ministry today reported 9,020 new Covid-19 cases, a record number for the fifth consecutive day.

It also reported 98 deaths, a sharp rise from the previous record of 63 deaths on Wednesday. - Mkini