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PETALING JAYA: Covid-19 cases have turned up in various shopping malls in the Klang Valley and Negri Sembilan over the past week, but this is unlikely to prevent Malaysians from going ahead with their purchase plans, according to behavioral scientist Dr. Gerard Louis.
But they will most likely take the necessary precautions, such as wearing face masks, in doing so, he added.
“People don’t feel the need to stay away from shopping malls unless there is directive from the authorities,” Louis, dean of HELP University’s faculty of behavioral sciences, education and languages, told TheSun yesterday.
“Unlike Westerners who will fight tooth and nail not to wear a mask, Malaysians are a docile bunch.”
Furthermore, Louis said, the situation in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor is not yet as dire as in Sabah.
“It is not a red zone, so people still feel relatively safe.”
Shopping center and point-of-sale owners are also taking steps to keep shoppers coming.
For starters, they have been open about Covid-19 infections at their facilities, a move that has also earned them praise from the Ministry of Health.
The malls that have reported new cases are Suria KLCC, The Linc KL, NU Sentral, KL Gateway Mall and Sunway Pyramid in the Klang Valley and Aeon Nilai in Negri Sembilan.
However, KL Gateway Mall later clarified that the suspected case at its facility then tested negative.
As expected, the reports have affected business.
As KL Gateway Mall General Manager Wivien San pointed out, it is natural for people to avoid danger until the dust has settled.
“It has affected business because people tend to worry, which is normal,” he said.
“However, I can assure you that our mall is safe for shoppers.”
He said that people should not be too quick to jump to conclusions until they have seen all the facts and know the real situation.
However, other concerns remain. Shopping malls are closed areas and sometimes it gets too crowded to practice social distancing.
To address the problem, some shopping malls have deployed agents to patrol the floor and break up crowds when necessary.
San said it is also essential for shoppers to practice self-discipline to help fight the pandemic.
“For example, people need to check in with the MySejahtera app multiple times when they are in a commercial building, in addition to having their temperature taken. It is everyone’s duty to strictly observe this rule, ”she said.
It is now mandatory for all shopping centers and outlets to provide their customers with a QR code to register in the MySejahtera app and take their body temperature.
In a press release yesterday, the Health Ministry said that none of the reported cases in shopping malls have appeared on the MySejahtera tracker.
The ministry said this is not an anomaly, adding that whether a specific location is listed as an access point depends entirely on the depth of an investigation. “Everything is based on facts and science.”
In the case of shopping centers, the checks showed that no new cases had been reported in the last two weeks within a 1 km radius of each of the shopping centers.
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