Decision on need for MySejahtera 'check-in' within weeks - Khairy

 

The Health Ministry will decide in the next two weeks whether to continue requiring people to use the MySejahtera's "check-in" feature when entering most venues, said its minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

However, he maintained that MySejahtera is still relevant as a contact tracing tool because many people flagged as casual contacts by the system are later confirmed to have Covid-19.

At a press conference at the parliament building today, he said the ministry is reviewing the need for MySejahtera check-ins because Malaysia has already passed the peak of the Omicron Covid-19 variant wave and is now in the "transition to endemic" phase of the pandemic.

"The Health Ministry is monitoring the patterns of infection, and we will decide in a week or two whether to continue MySejahtera check-ins or not.

"So, my answer is twofold: Firstly, to say that it is useless is incorrect. I have demonstrated that it still has its uses.

"For the transitionary phase, whether we - myself and (health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah) - are happy with the infection trends and no longer need tracing at a micro-level and dare to abolish or relax MySejahtera check-ins; we will see in the next one or two weeks. God-willing," he told the press conference, which was also broadcasted live.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

He said this when asked to respond to news reports showing that the number of MySejahtera check-ins has declined over the last few weeks amid a crisis of confidence in the system, even though it is still required by law.

He was also asked about reports quoting experts questioning MySejahtera's usefulness as a contact tracing tool due to the high Covid-19 prevalence amid the Omicron wave.

To the latter, Khairy countered: "At the peak of the Omicron wave, we sent casual contact notifications to those we identified as close contacts through check-in data.

"Forty-five percent of them later turn out to be positive, and they have been successfully isolated through the MySejahtera's contact tracing system.

"So, we find that it still has value as a contact tracing system."

Meanwhile, to another question, Khairy said negotiations are still ongoing with MySJ Sdn Bhd whether the government will take over the MySejahatera intellectual property or use a 'software as a service' model.

He said the ministry is also in discussions with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Ministry to extend legal protections for MySejahtera data.

For now, he said although MySejahtera data is exempt from the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA), it still complies with all of PDPA's requirements. - Mkini