IPOH: The public should perform the Malaysian hand-over-heart gesture instead of shaking hands when greeting each other to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), said Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye.
"I would like to stress here that the (virus) is not airborne, but (is spread) through droplets or contact. When someone gets infected with coronavirus, but without coughing and sneezing, people around him would not get the virus.
“(Casual contact) doesn’t cause infection. But once the person coughs on a table and (a healthy person) touches it, or a lift button or a door handle, the possibility of them getting infected is high,” he said.
Dr Lee said that the ministry is encouraging the public to avoid skin-to-skin contact, such as performing handshakes, as you might touch an infected person and become ill.
“We can practice ‘Salam Cara Malaysia’ (the hand-over-heart gesture) instead of the handshake to avoid spreading the virus. I believe we should look into this matter and start practicing it,” he told reporters after attending a Thaipusam celebration at the Sri Subramaniar Temple here, today.
The coronavirus has claimed at least 720 lives since it emerged in Wuhan, China on Dec 31, last year. As of today, Malaysia has recorded 15 positive cases.
When asked whether Malaysia would issue a travel advisory for Singapore in light of the city-state’s rising number of cases, Dr Lee said there is no need to do so.
“There is no need to cut (ourselves off from) Singapore… At this moment, we believe Singapore can control the cluster so that we don’t have to take drastic action,” he added.