KLANG: The Health Ministry will neither bow down to unwarranted pressure nor rush into re-instating drastic measures such as the blanket face mask mandate in efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
Health minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said any new measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 will be made based on evidence of the situation on the ground and through assessment of early case detection made via the Hightened Alert System (HAS).
Dr Dzulkefly, who is also Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) strategic director, also gave his assurance that he and the ministry will not be "emotionally driven" when recommending or proposing new Covid-19 preventive measures.
"I am aware that there were people were angry, disappointed and criticised me when I did not announce the re-introduction of drastic measures such as a blanket face mask mandate during my press conference on the Covid-19 situation last week.
"Having said that, I will not be influenced by an emotionally-driven approach. The ministry will instead refer to the evidence and make considerations based on the assessment of the HAS.
"Let me stress here again that the ministry and I are very 'evidence-based'. This is the approach that we are adopting (in the effort to combat the spread of Covid-19)," said Dr Dzulkefly during his winding-up speech at the 2023 National Amanah Convention here today.
In the event there are drastic measures being introduced by the ministry, Dr Dzulkefly said it would be made after the ministry has taken into consideration all the important evidence in order to protect the wellbeing of the people.
He also affirmed the previous statement by Health director-general Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan that Covid-19 cases are expected to drop in the coming weeks, the latest by January next year.
"Insya-Allah (God Willing), based on projection by the ministry, there will be a drop in (Covid-19) cases in January," he said.
Dr Dzulkefly on Dec 18 outlined the ministry's five key strategies under its Covid-19 management plan. (hyperlink: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/12/991932/health-ministry-outlin...">https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/12/991932/health-ministry-outlin...)
Among the strategies included early detection of Covid-19 and the SARS Cov-2 variants; community empowerment via TRIIS (test, report, isolate, inform and seek); constant monitoring of health facilities and case management, especially to protect the high-risk segment.