GEORGE TOWN: The Covid-19 pandemic has caused almost 60% of leading civil society activists to be under self-quarantine after a Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner tested positive for the virus on March 14.
It started from a meeting on March 2 when the Suhakam commissioner came into contact with a lawyer from Sarawak, who didn’t realise that he was carrying the virus, as many of the patients were asymptomatic initially.
The fallout from the lawyer meeting and coming into contact with people is that tens of people working for civil societies have been forced to go under self-quarantine.
“This person alone has shut down most activities of the civil society movement in the country. It is important to be self-quarantined and for some to undergo the test to determine if they are clear of the virus,“ said a social activist who is also under quarantine.
Just days before the commissioner was confirmed to be positive, a close contact then held a meeting with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from Sabah and Sarawak where it is understood many of them were also later advised by the health authorities to undertake self - isolation measures.
Among the groups urged to undertake similar measures was the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih).
Its chairman, Thomas Fann, confirmed that he was practising self-isolation at home as a precaution after that particular meeting’s chairperson tested positive.
Fann said that many of his colleagues were now also restricting themselves at home but to date, none have displayed symptoms associated with Covid-19.
Meanwhile, one of the activists, who is under quarantine, urged the health authorities to expedite releasing the results, saying that they were tested four days ago but until now, the results were not made known.
“The self - quarantine is difficult on the part of those staying alone because they need to source for food and under no circumstances are they allowed to leave their homes unless they have permission from the health authorities who are monitoring those living in isolation.”
