KUALA LUMPUR: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has urged the government to consider adding Influenza A on the list of six infectious diseases that allowed quarantine leave to be given.
In a statement today, Cuepacs president Adnan Mat said by adding Influenza A to the list, it would be easier for civil servants down with disease to go under quarantine leave.
Based on a circular issued in 2016 on the provision of quarantine leave, the six infectious diseases were hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD); dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever; measles, chickenpox, diphtheria and malaria.
The same circular also mentions about quarantine leave for civil servants on the way back home from overseas who are held in quarantine stations by port or airport health authorities or quarantined at home by health authorities due to an infectious disease.
Influenza is an infection with flu symptoms such as fever, sore throat, coughing, headache, muscle and joint pain and fatigue.
The outbreak caused by seasonal influenza virus only causes mild cold to ordinary people but can lead to severe infections in high-risk groups such as children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses.
Prior to this, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) had also made a similar request, which Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he would consider. - Bernama
