The Tourism Minister has called on the Health Minister Datuk Dzulkefly to be less aggressive in reporting the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia as the reports are spooking the tourist away. No doubt Malaysia is currently facing the J1 wave and cases have been spiking to the thousand with daily records jumping by over 20%m but Minister Tiong King Sing is calling for calm representation of the matter.
Commenting on his Facebook post, Tiong said” in order to balance the recovery of the country’s tourism and economy, I urge the Ministry of Health (KKM) to be more careful when giving information about COVID-19 so that it does not cause unnecessary fear and unnecessary anxiety.
He further added that while COVID-19 is an important public health issue and cannot be ‘swept under the carpet’. However, he said we also shouldn’t overreact making things worse and that it is important that we avoid creating fear and creating negative perceptions towards Malaysia, especially the tourism sector and at the same time harming the country’s economy.
The Minister is appealing as there were complaints expressed by both the travel industry and the public as the situation is now different from before when the epidemic began to spread. Tiong request the MOH not to reports cases of infection every day.
Comparing to other where they are careful not to cause panic by raise awareness and intensify prevention efforts, but don’t get to the point of overreacting and creating panic.
Tiong further pointed to expert observations where the JN coronavirus that can unsettle the immune system and more contagious than other strains, but it may not cause worse symptoms. And that it doesn’t increase the burden on public health systems around the world.
Malaysia and Indonesia face similar situation, but Tiong said Indonesian Health Minister insists that the situation for the upcoming Christmas and New Year festive season is not too alarming, in contrast to the announcements in Malaysia that were seen to provoke unease among the public.
