SIBU – Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing is calling upon tourism players to help disseminate accurate information on the Covid-19 situation and preventive measures to prevent confusion among visitors and tourists in the country.
In a Facebook post, he said fake news on Covid-19 preventive measures have been spreading like wildfire on social media to the extent of causing confusion and panic among foreign tourists, indirectly affecting their interest in visiting Malaysia.
He said the fake news came about from the misunderstanding of a preventive measure that Covid-19 positive cases need to undergo isolation for five days from the date of the onset of symptoms.
Currently, according to measures published by the Health Ministry on its website, those with symptoms are only advised to isolate themselves.
In this regard, Tiong hopes that tourism players can help by providing accurate information and explaining the situation on the actual preventive measures to tourists.
“Cases of Covid-19 show an increasing trend in countries around the world, including Malaysia. Following that, the MoH announced the latest pandemic prevention measures.
“Unfortunately, the use of the sentence – Covid-19 positive case needs to undergo isolation for five days from the date of the onset of symptoms – had been misinterpreted.
“The fake news started to spread on social media to the extent of causing foreign tourists to also misunderstand the issue – causing panic when thinking that they need to be quarantined upon arriving in Malaysia, and indirectly reducing their interest to visit Malaysia,” he said.
He warned those responsible to stop spreading the fake news, which will hinder the tourism industry in the country.
“Publish or disseminate authentic information, ignore any inaccurate information.
“Let me emphasise that the announced Covid-19 preventive measures are aimed at protecting the health and safety of all parties, including tourists coming to this country,” he said.
Adding on, he said the appropriate epidemic control measures are also to ensure that tourists feel more comfortable during their travels in Malaysia.
Tiong said the MoH had already explained that the government has no intention of re-implementing the Movement Control Order or any closure measures previously, and hence, tourists need not worry.
“During this period, the government intends to increase awareness of epidemic prevention more than before, including focusing on methods of transmission of information on prevention of transmission, education and publicity.
“If confirmed positive, affected patients will be quarantined at home, and those with severe symptoms are urged to seek follow-up treatment.
“All this is to reduce the risk of infection to everyone, including tourists,” he said.
Tiong pointed out that as ambassadors of the Malaysian tourism industry, industry players are the first parties to contact foreign tourists.
“So, it is our obligation and responsibility to assist by providing clarification on the misunderstanding or confusion related to this matter to tourists, so as to avoid the fake news from spreading.
“When communicating the situation in Malaysia to the outside world, we must avoid any misleading elements.
“If there is a part that is really unclear, we should also try to get information through official channels to avoid the same incident from happening again,” he said.
He said allowing more misunderstandings to happen will only bring about negative effects to the recovery of the country’s tourism industry. – December 22, 2023