THE government must clarify the usefulness of the MySejahtera application, which does not seem to be doing anything to curb Covid-19, said Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran.

According to Rajiv, MySejahtera has failed to achieve its objective, especially in recent months with new daily Covid-19 cases reaching the thousands.

“We need MySejahtera to step up its game to keep all of us safe in this crisis. We should be alerted by the app if we have come into contact with the virus and should get ourselves tested and quarantined. However, this is not happening.

“We scan and scan at every building we enter, but how many have been notified that they have come into contact with a Covid-19 positive case and thus should report to a nearby clinic to get tested?” he said in a statement today.

“It is unlikely that this happens, as now even known close contacts are not told to come in for testing, let alone a crowd that may have been in the same restaurant or bank branch as a positive patient.”

Rajiv also asked why people were penalised RM1,000 when the app was not meeting its specifications, to identify close contacts and curb the spread of the virus.

“If the system was working, and close contacts were effectively and efficiently identified, our number would not have risen so high, so quickly.”

He said the Health Ministry should justify the reason for being strict on registration via MySejahtera if it is not even effectively safeguarding those who have already registered with MySejahtera and diligently scanning everywhere they go.

“What exactly is MySejahtera doing with all the data it has collected?”

He said the other function of MySejahtera – to self-report a positive Covid-19 test to the Health Ministry – is also problematic.

“Covid-19 patients awaiting a call from the ministry can now notify it through the MySejahtera application on smartphones, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said,” he said.

Rajiv also asked if reporting on MySejahtera was sufficient or does the public still have to go to the Covid Assessment Centers (CAC) in person as well.

“If they have to go in person to the CAC, then reporting on MySejahtera is a duplication, a waste of time. In addition, those who have declared themselves positive on MySejahtera or completed their quarantine are not getting their status updated,” he said.

“So what exactly is the function of MySejahtera and why are we forced to comply with a clearly dysfunctional app?” – February 18, 2021.