MALAYSIANS will have to adjust to certain measures in stemming the spread of Covid-19 even after the movement control order (MCO) has been lifted, said experts today.

The measures likely involve a continued ban on mass gatherings and for people to observe social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands even if reported cases dropped to zero, they added.

“The worst thing to do is to relax the MCO and have the public and hospitals think that life will go back to normal. That won’t happen, particularly for the people at the healthcare business,” said Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, the dean of Universiti Malaya’s medicine faculty.

“As soon as you relax, this highly infectious virus, of which 98% of the population has no immunity against, may spread again. If we go on having mass gatherings and not observing personal hygiene, we will go back to square one.

“Every single individual must bear in mind this virus hasn’t gone away, we need to take all those precautions as it is still around.”

She was speaking at a webinar organised by Research for Social Advancement (Refsa) today.

Other speakers were Malaysian Armed Forces health services director-general Lt. Gen Dr Md Amin Muslan and Geutanyoe Foundation co-founder Lilianne Fan. The webinar was moderated by Refsa research director Ivy Kwek.

On when she thought the MCO would be lifted, Adeeba replied: “That’s the 64-million-dollar question, isn’t it?

“There are many angles to look at this. Some have suggested that we can only lift (the MCO) after we see zero new cases for two weeks. Others say less than that.”

She said the prospects of a vaccine remain at least 12 to 18 months away.

“There have been a number of recent announcements by the Oxford, Imperial College groups that they are fast tracking vaccine research and development.

“The Chinese are also working on it and no doubt the Americans too. However, even if they did fast track development, they’d still have to go through enormous steps to ensure safety.

“The last thing anyone wants is to take shortcuts and get a vaccine that does more harm than good,” she said, adding tests would have to go through phases involving animal and toxicological studies.

She added the economy can still run without compromising care for high-risk patients.

“There are certain ways to do things so that we don’t have to be locked up waiting for a vaccine.”

Meanwhile, Amin said military intelligence had taken note of the appearance of the new coronavirus in November and December last year by observing social media.

“Our health intelligence noted deaths due to respiratory infections from an unknown virus at the Wuhan hospital through social media,” he told the webinar.

He said the information was shared with the Health Ministry’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre and the Bangkok-based Asean Centre of Military Medicine.

Soon after, former deputy prime minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail chaired the first National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) with the chief of defence force.

Amin said the role of the armed forces is guided by National Security Council directives number 20 and 21 under which they are to assist and support civil agencies in crisis and disaster management.

Currently, the armed forces has deployed 7,000 troops nationwide, including to areas under enhanced MCO, he said.

The armed forces hospitals have been used to decant 100 non-Covid-19 patients from Kuala Lumpur and Malacca, he added.

Army doctors, nurses and medics are also providing assistance at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang quarantine centre.

“At present, planners are assisting by going over scenarios on how a post-MCO situation would work and how much earlier it can be implemented. This is something new. We still have over 90% who are not immune to this virus.

“How will the new norm be? And how compliant will the public be? We have got to get into our culture to abide by the simple rules of wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding crowds and observing social distancing.” – April 22, 2020.