By Yesterday (8 September), Malaysia recorded its first three-digit COVID-19 cases since the beginning of June. As the country went into a state of shock with the 100 cases reported in one day, Malaysia’s Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah urged people to practise safe distancing of at least one metre from each other to curb the spread.
The COVID-19 pandemic had affected the way people greet each other physically, changing from hugging or shaking hands, to fist-bumping as a replacement.
Since the spike of new coronavirus cases in Malaysia, Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali expressed that this form of physical contact between individuals was not encouraged by the Ministry, according to Free Malaysia Today.
As he spoke against physical contact during the pandemic, the health official had also reminded Malaysians to be careful.
“(There should be) no ‘salam’ and other forms of body contact, but today I see that the fist bump has not only become a trend but some people even embrace each other.”
“The ministry prefers placing the hand on the chest and bowing slightly as a respectful gesture of greeting. I urge the people to be careful.”
Among the 100 new cases, 15 were imported cases, and 85 were local cases. No deaths were recorded, according to The Star.
As of the time of writing, there were a total of 9,559 COVID-19 cases reported in Malaysia, and 295 of them are currently active cases.