On Oct 4, one of the news reports that gained wide traction was "Langkawi tourism bubble: 149 Covid-19 positive cases detected".
If I plan to go to Langkawi for a holiday, such a headline will deter me because it is a three-digit infection.
If a lesson on interstate travel from the Sabah state election last year was learnt, then it should be realised that the problem started when the daily infections rapidly moved from three digits to four digits late last year, and hit five figures this year.
It does not help that on the same day the 149 infections were reported, another headline, "Popular Langkawi hotel temporarily closed after over 50 staff, family members test positive for Covid-19", was published.
But, after reading both articles, there is really no cause for alarm. The first article was about people who tested positive at various entry points to Langkawi. They had not reached their holiday destinations.
The 149 cases among these would-be tourists were detected because of excellent standard operating procedures which require all domestic tourists to be tested at the doorstep of Langkawi.
They were all turned away and told to quarantine themselves under the home surveillance order. These people were outside of the bubble and hence, any reporting on their infections should not be stated as a tourism bubble infection.
Such reporting is a disservice to the tourism industry, which was badly affected by the pandemic.
The fact is, as of Oct 7, there was only one infection among tourists in Langkawi, which is good news that will spur more arrivals in the months ahead.
The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry's target of 400,000 tourist arrivals in Langkawi by year end could still be met.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the Langkawi travel bubble had recorded more than 38,000 arrivals, with more than RM15 million in tourism receipts.
For the second article, the emphasis should be that it was a workplace cluster to reassure the public that all is well with the travel bubble.
But, you don't get this crucial information by reading the headline. Lest I be accused of sweating over the small stuff, or making a mountain out of a molehill, people these days read the headings first and form an impression of what the article is about.
For an important topic such as Covid-19 or anything associated with it, such as a travel bubble or adoption of an endemic strategy, it is imperative that the heading captures the essence of the story clearly, otherwise all efforts towards improving public health or the recovery of the economy will be unconsciously sabotaged.
So, what constitutes a travel bubble infection or cluster? The concise answer is, it must be among the tourists who were in Langkawi when infected, or they contracted the virus within 14 days of returning home.
And it is reassuring for the recovery of the tourism industry that only one infection so far has been detected from the Langkawi tourism bubble when more than 38,000 people had visited the island since the pilot project began on Sept 16.
What's more, this also implies that all parties, from the authorities, hotel and tour operators, to enforcement officers and the tourists, are serious in ensuring SOP compliance at a high level. If this level of compliance can be replicated nationally, Malaysia would transit quickly to the endemic phase.
These are the reassurances that one hopes to see in news headlines.
The writer is director of media and communications at EMIR Research