It appears that more and more individuals are having trouble adhering to home quarantine rules.
Earlier on Tuesday (21st July), an elderly woman in Ipoh and a man in Sri Hartamas went viral on the internet after netizens called them out over their irresponsible behaviour.
The woman in the pink headscarf was wearing a pink tag on her wrist while she dined in Bandar Meru Raya. Sinar Harian reported that the 72-year-old woman was instructed to undergo 14 days of quarantine at home since returning from abroad on 4th July. Both she and her son were tested positive for Covid-19.
Similarly, Malaysian Youtuber @IsaacosmanTV was horrified to see a man with a pink tag on his wrist casually sitting at a kopitiam near Sri Hartamas. Not wanting to risk his health, he immediately left the venue.
Many of these snapshots were taken at local supermarkets. Individuals with tags on their wrists are classified as person under surveillance (PUS) for Covid-19. Despite the compulsory home quarantine, a number of people have blatantly violated the requirement.
“The government views the non-compliance of home quarantine very seriously as this has resulted in further spread of the Covid-19 virus to their families and the community surrounding them. Their actions are extremely irresponsible and the authorities can take serious action on them including imposing a fine of RM1000,” Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was quoted as saying.
In addition, a user recently uploaded an Instagram photo of a woman with a pink tag getting her hair treatment in a salon. “I see so many postings about an elderly aunty breaking her home quarantine, but no one seems to have an issue with this young lady,” the caption reads.
Yesterday (Wednesday, 22nd July), MyNewsHub posted a picture of a Malay man at Al Mazhar Bistro in Klang. When someone reprimanded him for entering the premise despite wearing his pink wrist tag, he apparently smiled and continued looking at his phone.
Info Roadblock JPJ/POLIS later clarified that the aforementioned man “was actually just waiting for an e-hailing ride at the restaurant. His purpose was to go to the Botanic City Health Clinic to undergo a Covid-19 rapid test on the 13th day of his quarantine“. Still, many criticised him for waiting at a public place and pulling his face mask down.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham revealed that Malaysia has recorded 13 new clusters in the past 10 days alone. “What this shows is that the public has become complacent, and in the process are not complying with the set standard operating procedures (SOP),” he said.
The aforementioned include:
- Brickfields restaurant cluster in Kuala Lumpur
- Shirala cluster in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur
- Sepang Rumah Kongsi cluster at a construction site in Selangor
- Novgorod cluster in Melaka and Selangor
- Mambong company cluster in Kuching and Samarahan, Sarawak
- Engineering firm cluster in Kuching, Sarawak
- Medical centre cluster in Kuching, Sarawak
- Jupiter cluster in Bintulu, Sarawak
- Stutong wet market cluster in Kuching, Sarawak
- Kuching Jetty cluster in Sarawak
- Sentosa cluster in Kuching, Sarawak
- Kluang old folks home cluster in Johor
- Pitakwa cluster in Kemaman, Terrenganu
Isu yang kita hadapi sekarang ialah bukan masalah tempat kuarantin tapi kepatuhan kepada SOP.
Jika di pusat kuarantin masih ada yang bergaul rapat sesama mereka, ia tetap menjadi masalah.
Jadi masalah kita sekarang ialah tiada kepatuhan SOP.
– @DGHisham#SOP #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/Ye18tenxMX
— KKMalaysia🇲🇾🩺❤️ (@KKMPutrajaya) July 21, 2020
Source: The Star.
