Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said visiting during the coming Hari Raya Aidilfitri will only be allowed on the first day, with immediate family members and gatherings cannot exceed 20 people in one day.
However, There is a statement written by medical specialists from Academy of Medicine of Malaysia (AMM)– AMM is a registered body representing medical specialists in Malaysia from 11 colleges and 15 chapters, have expressed concern over government decision to allow small gatherings under the conditional movement control order (CMCO) during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
The statement read as follow:
We are deeply disappointed that small Hari Raya parties were still allowed. This could undo all the good work to control the Covid-19 pandemic thus far in our country.
It has been proven that it only takes one infected person – especially asymptomatic or false-negative ones from the Covid-19 testing currently used – to spread the disease.
AMM proposed that face-to-face Hari Raya celebrations should only be among family members residing in the same house.
We must remember the immense difficulties and massive resources needed to do contact tracing, and new Covid-19 clusters were still surfacing, and the lack of vigilance would likely escalate the situation.
An excessive relaxation of CMCO restrictions will potentially reverse hard-won victories achieved through the sacrifices of the rakyat and frontliners alike.
Covid-19 remains an active threat and Malaysians need to work together to prevent its spread. We note that new clusters are still appearing and non-adherence to precautions will escalate this. We need to stay vigilant and not let our guard down.
Current habits of good hand hygiene, maintaining physical distancing, avoiding mass gatherings and wearing of face masks in public must still be carried out.
We sincerely hope that the government will review the relaxation of its policy for gatherings during Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
From members of AMM :
- Master of AMM (Prof Dr Rosmawati Mohamed)
- The presidents of the Colleges of Anaesthesiologists (Datuk Dr Jahizah Hassan)
- Dental Specialists (Prof Datuk Dr Lian Chin Boon)
- Emergency Physicians (Dr Ridzuan Datuk Mohd Isa)
- Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Dr Michael Samy)
- Ophthalmologists (Dr Nur Fariza Ngah)
- Paediatrics (Prof Dr Thong Meow Keong)
- Pathologists (Prof Dr Cheong Soon Keng)
- Physicians (Dr Letchuman Ramanathan)
- Public Health Medicine (Datuk Indera Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman)
- Radiology (Dr Amir Fuad Hussain)
- Surgeons (Prof Dr April Camilla Roslani)
Source : The Star