With the current Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place, it’s quite a known fact that fully vaccinated individuals, or in other words, individuals who have completed two doses of vaccine, could go out and about including utilising dine-in services. This might be a joy to many as we’ve all been confined to our houses for about one year due to the pandemic. With many states moving into Phase 2 and 3 of the National Recovery Program (NRP), more restrictions would be eased for fully vaccinated individuals, it is to no doubt, we’ll be back to normal soon.
However, not to be a party pooper but CNN has recently reported a few concerning aspects that might make you rethink twice about dining indoors. Analogically, the vaccine functions as a raincoat. When it’s drizzling, if the level of infection isn’t very high, the vaccines will protect you very well. But if it’s a huge thunderstorm, then there’s a higher chance of getting yourself wet completely.
Similar to the United States, which still has a large number of people being infected by Covid-19, Malaysia is still facing the situation too, A vaccinated person is at a higher risk when surrounded by a lot of people who could be infected with Covid-19.
However, in comparison to outdoor dining, indoor dining poses a higher risk due to several factors. This depends on the space configuration of the restaurant, the individual that you’re dining with and the rate of transmission within the community. Therefore, it’s extremely important to ensure that the transmission rate within the community is really low.
For gyms, @KKMPutrajaya will be jointly developing some ventilation guidelines with MKN that need to be adhered to. This will not take long but because of the nature of indoor fitness centres, we must stress on certain ventilation requirements. Working on it urgently.
— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) September 8, 2021
Now, moving on to the topic of opening gyms, which Malaysia has not done yet. The risks definitely depend on circumstances, in regards to the gym equipment. Weight machines, if no one is close to you, would be relatively safe and outdoor gym classes would be ideal due to low risks and better air circulation.
Unfortunately, high intensity exercises which involved heavy breathing might be a new spot for transmission. Well, lucky for us, gyms aren’t open yet. So, we could worry less about transmission in gyms.
Nevertheless, it is extremely important to be cautious despite the vaccination process and be extremely vigilant of the daily number of Covid-19 cases. Stay safe and mask up!
Source: CNN
