Govt told to justify hiding info on coronavirus victim’s movements

The government has refused to divulge details on places a 41-year-old man visited, after he was confirmed as the first Malaysian to contract coronavirus.

PETALING JAYA: An activist on health issues has demanded an explanation for the government’s apparent refusal to disclose the recent movements of a Malaysian infected with the Wuhan coronavirus.

Chan Chee Khoon, an epidemiologist and critic of health policies, said the government had an obligation to justify concealing information on the places the 41-year-old Selangor man recently visited.

Speaking to FMT, he contrasted Putrajaya’s attitude with that of the Singapore government.

He noted that Singapore has provided the public with information on the hotels the coronavirus sufferers on the island recently stayed in so that members of the public can decide whether to patronise those hotels.

The Singapore health ministry’s website has details such as these:

“Prior to hospital admission, the case stayed at Village Hotel Sentosa (10 Artillery Avenue), Hotel 81 Princess (21 Lorong 12 Geylang) and Home Suite View Hotel (12 Lorong 12 Geylang). She indicated that she had visited Orchard Road and Geylang and had travelled by taxi. The risk of infection from transient contact, such as on public transport or in public places, is assessed to be low.”

Chan said Malaysians should be informed of the Selangor man’s movements so that they could choose whether to avoid or risk going to the places he had been to.

He also said health authorities should not, at this point, exclude the possibility that the coronavirus could be transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces.

It was therefore important for the government to give details about the victim’s recent appearances in crowded areas and to provide other relevant information, he added.

Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy CEO Azrul Mohd Khalib, however, said naming the private hospital where the victim went for his check could complicate matters.

He said it was likely that the health ministry was already working directly with private hospitals to initiate measures for contact tracing and disease containment.

“Making the names of these facilities known could make this a harder task as public fear and ill-informed suspicion could act as significant barriers in identifying and bringing forward patients for treatment.”

Azrul said he believed standard operating working procedures were being adhered to, as shown in a private hospital’s ability to refer the patient in Selangor to Hospital Sungai Buloh.

“The public needs to continue to place their trust and faith in our healthcare workers so that they can do they jobs,” he added.

Klang MP Charles Santiago told FMT the health ministry would be calling all the people the first Malaysian victim would have recently met.

“The ministry may not want to create a panic situation” by revealing the information, he said.

“We have to trust the government on this.”

He said the various authorities were sharing all relevant information with one another.

However, he added, the government should start divulging more information if new cases were to be uncovered. Information on the areas the victim might have visited would be especially important, he said.