Will we be blindsided by another health issue?
We applaud efforts taken by the government in implementing the full movement control order (FMCO), initially from June 1 to June 14 and then extended to June 28. We can see it is helping to reduce the number of daily infections and help flatten the Covid-19 curve. We hope this activity along with the vaccination programme and other efforts will allow us all to move to a healthier position. However, we have a concern. Under the FMCO, companies that perform water treatment for ponds, water features and swimming pools have had their applications to operate either rejected or not processed. Either way, the companies are not allowed to operate. For the first two weeks of FMCO, not performing water treatment was not so noticeable. Mostly what was seen was algae starting to grow. However, what has happened in parallel is that as the chemicals used for treating the water (chlorine) dissolved, it allowed mosquitoes to start laying their eggs. The Aedes mosquito (Aedes aegypti), which spreads dengue, has a life cycle from an egg to an adult of approximately eight to 10 days. Without chemical treatment of the water, there may be thousands of pools, water features and fountains across Malaysia that are potentially capable of producing dengue mosquitoes. As we enter the second period of FMCO, there will be more mosquitoes around. In addition, with the majority of residents now staying at home, their exposure has increased. From our understanding, property holders have a requirement placed on them under Act 154 Destruction of Disease Bearing Insects Act 1975 to take every reasonable measure to ensure they prevent Aedes mosquitoes from breeding. As such it has been the writers understanding that service providers are providing an essential service to help property holders meet their statutory requirements. Many of them are not equipped to perform the servicing and water treatment themselves. They do not have the chemical available, the expertise in chemical handling, sufficient knowledge in the systems in use and resources (manpower) available. Therefore, the risks posed by mosquitoes breeding increases. The people most at risk of getting dengue at the end of FMCO will be the ones who could have helped reduce the threat in the first place  service workers. One can only wonder what will happen if FMCO is extended for a third two-week period. It would be distressing to see all the great efforts in reducing the threat of Covid-19 being undone by a different form of public health issue during this pandemic. Bruce Hope  Beribu Jaya Owner/CEO