Yoursay: Huge gatherings in face of a global pandemic ‘irresponsible’

YOURSAY | ‘Public safety should be of paramount importance, not political or religious correctness.’

MOH: About 14,500 M’sians went to tabligh event, up from 5,000

Friday prayers in FT to proceed, guidelines issued

Kawak: Malaysia is too confident or complacent to allow such a huge religious gathering which included a few thousand foreign participants from countries like China, Korea, Japan and the Middle East. Now they are in big trouble but it is too late.

Hello backdoor government, are all of you still on cloud nine? Apparently, all of you are still fighting over government positions and planning vengeance on the previous government.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi this week called for an RCI (royal commission of inquiry) to probe Pakatan Harapan's allegations against the previous Umno/BN government while Covid-19 is causing concerns among the rakyat with the daily increase in infections.

The virus is spreading worldwide and governments are scrambling to prevent the pandemic. But here the Perikatan Nasional MPs are in slumber and the opposition parties are suddenly dumb and deaf.

Sometimes people just cannot size up the extent of the problem. Either they lack knowledge or are too complacent or have false confidence.

The Health Ministry lacks transparency and dare not to even disclose the areas affected. Now it has become worse with over 14,000 Malaysians at the Sri Petaling Mosque for the tabligh event where some have infected the attendees.

Singapore has stopped Friday prayers and the Catholics in Malaysia have ceased weekend mass.

What are you waiting for?

Macky: During the time when a new coronavirus epicentre was apparently being created in Malaysia with a mammoth gathering between Feb 27 and March 1, there was no government in this country. They were busy horse-trading in Sheraton Hotel.

It is like nasib rakyat diperjudikan (gambling with the people’s fate).

Odysseus: This tabligh event is going to be the single source of a major Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia. I hope the authorities can complete the contact tracing soon.

All religious and mosque authorities must work together to identify those who attended the sessions in Sri Petaling. This is not a Muslim issue. It’s a serious Malaysian issue.

Bagus Curry Puff: Did the people who organised the tabligh event provide face masks, hand sanitisers, and promote washing of hands? Those who attended the event, did they sit and share food together?

The ignorance and thoughtlessness of the people who organised this event and the authorities who let it proceed is shocking.

This “okay lah” approach from all involved has to stop - it could be their elderly family members who will fall ill because of this.

Hmmmm: Didn't they learn anything from how Covid-19 was spread from a church gathering in South Korea? I think Malaysian authorities are too lackadaisical in such matters.

But in policing dress codes, we are number one.

Newday: Minister, why wait? The Health Department has already recommended a blanket ban on mass gatherings.

The Catholic Church has banned services and Perlis banned Friday prayers. Both acted responsibly and decisively.

While government heads all around the rest of the world have announced regular updates and impose blanket bans, we are still dependant on different government agencies doing their own “silo” advice and action.

Drngsc: Dear religious affairs minister, it is your right to have the mosque worship service. However, it is fair to say that should there be cases from the mosque service which endanger the whole country, you are responsible for them and pay for all the contact tracing, tests and medical treatment.

This is because you have exercised your right to go against medical advice. We have a global pandemic. This is no small affair.

The mosque in Sri Petaling has already caused an outbreak. How many more outbreaks do you wish to have from mosques in this country? We will say the same for temples and churches too.

Another Komentar: Mass gatherings in close proximity during this phase of contagion is reckless, irresponsible and unacceptable.

Public safety and welfare should be of paramount importance, not political or religious correctness.

Resilient On Our New Hope: Never underestimate the virus, if not, we will end up like Iran, Italy and South Korea once it spreads to the local community.

There have been many warnings from what has happened to other countries, let’s learn from them.

Clever Voter: The risk of a full-blown pandemic is happening before our eyes. Just 10 percent impacted would be enough to trigger a cascading effect.

Also, many are not bothered with basic hygiene and are physically weak too. The preparedness must be there, supported by adequate supplies and resources.

The last thing we want is a lockdown of the city. The new government probably did not ask for this, it would be an irony that the little virus poses a greater danger than a possible vote of no confidence.

Mugi: Will the 772 beds in Hospital Sungai Buloh be sufficient to cater to this foreseeable calamity?

Our newly minted health minister thought the beds in the hospital were more than adequate. It is not too late to change your opinion, minister.

Dompet Saya: I hope all will be safe or if infected, will recover soon.

Even though all of them were silly to not have avoided mass gatherings as per government advice, we wish them good health and a speedy recovery.

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