WITH Aidilfitri just round the corner, members of the public with relatives or friends who were former Covid-19 patients should wait for 14 days after their discharge from hospital to visit them.

This followed advice by director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah that those who have recovered from Covid-19 should quarantine themselves for 14 days.

As of yesterday, the number of coronavirus cases in Malaysia stands at 6,941, with 5,615 of them, or 80.9%, having recovered and discharged from hospitals.

With Aidilfitri to be celebrated in five days, Noor Hisham advised the public to continue complying with the Health Ministry’s standard operating procedures (SOP) to maintain the double digit in daily new Covid-19 cases, which the country has managed to achieve with the implementation of the conditional movement-control order (CMCO) since May 4.

The Muslim community is also advised to celebrate Aidilfitri out of the norm this time by avoiding visits to the cemetery and people’s homes to break the chain of infection.

“(And) the best way is by having closed-door Hari Raya celebrations with our immediate family and to limit visiting others, or, if possible just don’t,” he said.

According to a National Security Council (NSC) survey, 74% of the respondents will only celebrate the holiday with family members in the same household and this received the thumbs up from senior minister (security) Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“If this is the trend, that 74% of respondents agreed to celebrate Hari Raya only with immediate family members from the same house, we need not worry about the number of people getting exposed to Covid-19 infection and the emergence of a ‘balik kampung’ cluster,” he said.

He also advised the public to give their true names and correct telephone numbers in the record book before entering business premises to facilitate authorities to locate them in the event a Covid-19 positive case is detected at the premises concerned. – Bernama, May 19, 2020.