Yoursay: Get all those who needed it tested at all costs

YOURSAY | ‘Also a fatwa should be issued immediately by the religious authorities.’

Health DG urges 5,084 from tabligh group to get tested for Covid-19

Anonymous_1576493110343.18461576492847530: This is a ‘code red’ situation. A fatwa should be issued immediately by the religious authorities.

The whole country is held at ransom because of this tabligh gathering (though opinions are divided on how culpable they are). But the damage has been done.

So, the responsible thing to do at this crucial time is to issue a fatwa and to stem the tide of an imminent major catastrophe.

To the government of the day, it doesn't matter at this point if you came in through the front door or backdoor. For now, the lives of Malaysians are at stake.

P Ramlee: The government must act on this immediately as this group may unknowingly spread the virus to their immediate family members and close contacts.

The subsequent spread will be exponential and almost impossible to stop. The MCO won't be able to catch this.

I would suggest that prominent religious figures and influential Malay community leaders form a task force to persuade and enforce a mandatory screening on the identified persons and their immediate families and close contacts.

This is a time bomb that has the potential to make Malaysia look like Italy. Please do something now.

Apanakdikato: “We are working closely with the police to encourage them to come to our clinics and then we will do the test for them,” said Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

This is not the time to "encourage" the 5,084 individuals from the tabligh group to be tested. The lives of other innocent people, including the family members of these individuals, are in danger.

Why can't the Home or Health Ministry issue a mandatory and urgent directive to all of them to go to the nearest testing centre?

And why aren't the police and armed forces assisting on this matter, instead of putting a disproportionate amount of their resources to man roadblocks?

Anonymous_1583725848991.15431583724946711: People are “prisoners” in the own home because this bunch of people have caused at least 50 percent of Malaysia's Covid-19 cases and are still wandering around infecting people.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said recently that this backdoor government cares for the people. Muhyiddin, show us proof that you do by rounding them up.

We are all tired of the MCO. Please go and get the people who contributed to this.

RengitBP: Let me understand this. The original process was:

1) People come forward, 2) People get screened, 3) If no symptoms, they will be told to go home, 4) If they have symptoms, a series of tests will be conducted on them, 5) And if test confirmed positive - isolate them in hospital.

The authorities have identified 17,684 people connected to the tabligh gathering and they have come forward to be screened. From those screened, 5,084 have been told by medical officers at that time to go home; because they did not show any symptoms.

The authorities then tested the remaining 12,500 participants and people close to them. This has resulted in 6,648 negative, 1,207 positive and 4,645 pending final results.

Along the way, the authorities then decide to do a full test to all the tabligh participants, including those that have been sent home during the screening process.

At the point of registration, their particulars and contact numbers must have been collected. Could the authorities now call them or ask the police to bring them to be tested?

Darmakochi: This is getting very comical and ridiculous. I am sure the authorities will be able to obtain the basic information of the attendees' names, some personal details and their addresses from the event organiser.

Just get the local police in their areas to persuade them to go the Covid-19 test, failing which, they should be literally dragged to the nearest centres to be tested.

Anonymous 770241447347646: It is a never-ending battle with such individuals. Even if 100 of them are tested positive, imagine the damage that they are doing to the country.

Who controls the thousands of kampungs throughout the nation? You may secure the highways and byways, but the kampung roads are free for people to move around.

Look at the results from the two villages in Kluang. How many more such villages exist that these people are freely moving within?

With such an attitude exhibited by these individuals, the health authorities are fighting a losing battle.

Anonymous_1585363078928.05931585362196164: Why do we keep “urging” them?

National security is at stake. Economy, livelihood and businesses are going bankrupt and the country’s economy will be at an all-time low.

This is also a matter of life and death. Who is responsible for this?

Libra: It seems those who attended the tabligh event are not the problem but those who defy the movement control order (MCO) are.

The police arrest ordinary citizens for the MCO offence and put them in lock-up. Don’t they realise that people cannot raise money for bail at this moment in time, in addition to not knowing when the court date would be?

Why can’t they just let off those who defy the MCO with a stern warning and put all their efforts in apprehending those who pose the bigger threat to the country?

Quo Vadis: You know who they are. Enough of pleading. Arrest them, quarantine them, subject them to the rule of law. Throw the book at them.

They may choose to be sick, it is their call, but they have absolutely no right to put everybody else at risk.

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