How do we spray 13,000 Covid-19 cases away?

 

Malaysiakini recently carried an article about Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamarudin who is convinced that the large-scale spraying operation of sanitisation undertaken by her ministry was successful.

I bet many readers, like me, have seen the photos of Zuraida donning a hazmat suit and protective gear while posing with a high-pressure spray, ready to sanitise roads, walkways and pavements with her team back in 2020. Fuyyoh, quite a gung-ho minister she is, I’d say.

According to Zuraida, since the start of the first movement control order (MCO) last year, her ministry has conducted more than 13,000 sanitisation operations. She plans to continue the effort by standardising more sanitisation programmes that will be implemented nationwide.

While I respect her dedication to carry out what she thought was an effective method to curb the transmission of the coronavirus, I wonder if she had ever asked herself why her 13,000 sanitisation operations so far have failed to control the pandemic, so much so that our daily number of cases has stretched to more than 13,000 cases a day!

Quite frankly, I am not surprised to learn that Zuraida's efforts have done very little or nothing at all to lower the infection rate and the spread of the coronavirus in our country.

The reason is simple. For an infection to take place, the virus needs to enter our body. This can happen when we contaminate our hands by touching a surface and then touching our face, nose and/or mouth. Then again, who in their right mind would go about making direct contact with roads, walkways and pavements with their bare hands? I don’t. And I am pretty sure neither does Zuraida.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin during one of her sanitisation operations

Perhaps the next logical question to ask would be this – if the sanitisation operations aren’t making much of a difference, why are Zuraida and the government still adamant on spending time, energy and money doing it?

Well, perhaps the sanitisation operations aren’t really about stopping the spread of Covid-19. Maybe it is about the authorities being seen to do something to prevent the spread of the virus – like a political gimmick.

To be honest, the gimmick may not entirely be a bad idea as seeing the authorities taking actions to combat the pandemic (regardless of its effectiveness) could help eliminate fear among the people, making them feel safe.

And of course, it would also increase public confidence in politicians like Zuraida (despite not contributing anything towards protecting them from the infection).

All these political gimmicks and stunts aside, wouldn’t it be a more effective strategy for Zuraida to simply focus on reminding the public to practice stringent personal hygiene and complying with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the health authorities?

Wash hands with soap. Use alcohol-based sanitisers in the absence of water. Take more showers. Wear double-masks. Prevent crowded areas. Stay home if possible. Maintain social distancing.

Also, instead of deploying the Fire and Rescue Department under her ministry to carry out the public sanitisation works, perhaps their time and energy would be better utilised by assisting others in the enforcement of the SOP.

While my recommendations do not require Zuraida to pose in a hazmat suit for the media, I bet it would definitely be a more effective strategy in combating the spread of Covid-19 as compared to spraying roads, walkways and pavements. - Mkini

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FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a director, a struggling producer, a photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.