PUTRAJAYA: There is no evidence to prove that the use of disinfection box, chamber, tunnel, booth, partition or gate can reduce the risk of being infected by the deadly Covid-19 virus.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the duration of between 20 and 30 seconds applied under this process was not enough for disinfection purposes.
“The process also will not eliminate the virus within the (human) body.
“And the chemical used in this process may also harm a person’s membrane mucosa such as the eyes and the mouth.
“Based on the evaluation by the Health Ministry, we do not recommend the use of disinfection box/chamber/tunnel/booth /partition or gate as a measure to reduce Covid-19 infection,” he told reporters here today.
Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry had received several endorsement applications for the use of disinfection box/chamber/tunnel/booth/partition/gate to reduce Covid-19 infection, whereby their use have been evaluated by the HTA Unit.
“Evaluations have been conducted on several models of such devices in several countries, as well as existing devices in Malaysia,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said after nearly one month of the implementation of phase one and two of the Movement Control Order (MCO), the new Covid-19 cases had recorded a relatively stable trend without any sudden increases.
In addition, he said the daily number of recovered patients and discharged had increased.
However, Dr Noor Hisham said the public compliance with the MCO was crucial at this stage.