Former premier Najib Abdul Razak has described Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's announcement allowing full-vaccinated overseas travellers to quarantine at home upon arrival in Malaysia as "madness".
Najib warned that the move could allow Covid-19 variants that are more dangerous than the current Delta variant that is raging across the country to enter the borders.
"Overseas, the Delta Plus and Lambda variants are even more dangerous than the Delta variant that is currently spreading.
"That is why the government's decision to allow individuals returning to Malaysia from abroad to quarantine at home on condition that they have a house in Malaysia is madness of the highest order.
"This is because those who are vaccinated can still be infected and also infect others," he said.
Najib added that this was a repeat of the government's mistake in July last year when it allowed overseas travellers to quarantine at home, only to U-turn a month later after it was "too late".
He noted that this triggered the Sivagangga cluster with the D614G mutation.
"The government does not suffer significant losses by asking those returning from abroad to quarantine at quarantine centres or hotels overseen by the government because if they can travel abroad then they can surely afford to foot the cost.
"But if the government wants to bring in the Lambda and Delta Plus variants, then proceed with this madness," he said.
Earlier today, Muhyiddin announced the relaxation of rules for those who are fully vaccinated.
They include travelling perks, dine-in and outdoor exercise. These rules are more relaxed for states under Phase 2 and beyond of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).
'Premature move'
Muhyiddin acknowledged that while this may lead to an increase in Covid-19 cases, the severity will be less for those who are fully vaccinated.
The current Delta variant had led to a surge of Covid-19 cases in the country, overwhelming the country's healthcare system. The variant was first reported in India.
Meanwhile, paediatrician Amar Singh HSS who helped draft the Health Emergency Action Plan, a civil society initiative to influence policies against Covid-19, called the easing "premature".
"I am in a Phase 2 state and I am concerned with the relaxation of rules for the vaccinated. A premature move.
"Delta can infect the vaccinated (even though there is 10 times lower risk of serious illness) and they can transmit to others.
"I hope we don't have a worse outbreak. Especially crossing borders," he said on Twitter.
Amar also noted that the easing came on a day where a record 360 people died from Covid-19.
"How many of our people have to die unnecessarily?" he asked.
PSM secretary-general A Sivarajan also criticised the government for shifting the way in how it measures the severity of the pandemic in order to justify the easing.
He noted that the government, instead of looking at the number of Covid-19 cases, is now focussing on the proportion of severity.
"This is a backward move and will worsen the situation when people let their guard down and enforcement is relaxed without strong justification," he said.
Sivarajan said when the NRP was first unveiled, Muhyiddin had clearly said that the criteria included the number of daily cases, the healthcare system's capacity and the vaccination rate.
However, he said the government is now bowing to corporate interests to ease the lockdown. - Mkini
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