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Malaysia yesterday posted its biggest daily increase in new Covid-19 cases since the outbreak began, as the country’s politicians were criticized online for not practicing social distancing when they campaigned in the recent Sabah state elections.
Netizens also criticized them for not self-quarantining when they returned to peninsular Malaysia.
The Health Ministry said Malaysia recorded 287 cases yesterday, dwarfing the 277 cases reported on June 4. “This is what has concerned us; this is maintaining the trend that we are seeing of Covid-19 cases experiencing an increase across the country. World,” said the director general of the ministry, Noor Hisham Abdullah, at a conference of press.
The new peak appears to be closely related to the movement of thousands of people returning from the contested Sabah elections on September 26. Many Sabahans, working on the Malaysian peninsula, had returned home to vote.
Several politicians who had visited and campaigned in Sabah have already tested positive for the virus.
Last week, Malaysia consistently recorded triple-digit daily cases. And since Election Day, authorities have announced measures to curb the rise in infections, starting with mandatory Covid-19 screenings for everyone who has returned from Sabah since Sunday.
Sabah will also face a 14-day motion control order prohibiting travel between the 27 districts after midnight tonight. Only essential travel and services are allowed.
Earlier this week a selective lockdown was introduced in four virus hotspot districts on the east coast of Sabah.
Yesterday, #klustermenteri (group of ministers) was trending on Twitter following reports from cabinet ministers and high-ranking politicians not practicing self-quarantine upon their return from Sabah.
Among those who received criticism was Azman Nasrudin, a state executive councilor in Kedah who is a member of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Bersatu party, who tested positive. He was not quarantined prior to his positive result.
His wife, a school teacher, also tested positive, prompting the entire school to undergo swab tests.
The Ministry of Higher Education was also criticized after it asked all first-year university students in Malaysia to postpone enrollment in person due to the increase.
Students received the instruction after paying for their accommodation.
“I love how I’ve packed and packed, ready to finally start my long-awaited title, just so I can unpack everything. I also lost RM400 of my parents’ hostel payment. Thank you ministers,” posted Twitter user Lydia Chai.
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the head of Barisan Nasional (BN), the largest faction in the ruling federal government, apologized for the increase and admitted that it was caused directly by the Sabah polls.
Cases in Sabah began to rise early last month, and by election day, the state had registered 85 percent of all cases in Malaysia over a two-week period.
While Sabah remains a hot spot with 113 cases yesterday, a new cluster has emerged in Kedah, with 129 cases.
Meanwhile, the spike in cases has deterred rumors of a possible snap election in Malaysia that Tan Sri Muhyiddin had previously alluded to. BN Secretary General Annuar Musa said yesterday that no elections should be held in the near future.
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