WHEN Venice was hit by the bubonic plague in the mid-14th century, the Venetian government had sequestered those infected and medical teams on two islands — Lazzaretto Vecchio and Lazzaretto Nuovo.
There, the people were quarantined before being allowed back into the city. It was Venice's public health response to the plague.
The Venetian government then was the first in the Mediterranean region to implement large-scale quarantine and information gathering to monitor and fight the disease.
This particular historical information is especially relevant to the Covid19 pandemic, where many countries have implemented quarantine, lockdown and Movement Control Order (MCO) measures to contain the contagion.
Malaysia has done considerably well in managing Covid-19. Although there are active cases, the situation is stable. But today is the Sabah polls and medical experts fear that this stable situation may not be for long if extra precautionary measures are not in place.
And the measures include mandatory testing and quarantine for those returning here from Sabah. Why? To prevent Covid-19 from spreading, naturally. Quarantines have been particularly effective in controlling viruses and infectious diseases.
History is replete with such narratives. Besides the Venice experience, other notable quarantines include the sequestering of East Samoa during the 1918 flu pandemic and the 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak.
The Health Ministry said earlier this month that it would study if there was a need to impose the mandatory quarantine.
The order may be necessary now with cases in Sabah increasing and five areas declared red zones. Up to yesterday, Malaysia recorded 10,687 cases, 858 of which are active and 111 new cases. And 97 of the new infections are from Sabah.
Let's recall — in April, our Covid-19 R-naught (R0) was 1. In July and last month, the R0 was 0.72. But now it is 1.34. The infectivity rate is worrying, as affirmed by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He also said the number of infections in Sabah and Kedah had greatly impacted the national figure. For the uninitiated, if the R0 is "above1even by a fraction", it could trigger a damaging second Covid-19 wave.
Based on the damning figures, the government may want to consider mandatory quarantine. Universiti Malaya epidemiologist Professor Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud says the increased population movements caused by election campaigns and infections in Sabah's migrant and local population have contributed to the current situation.
He proposes a 14-day quarantine upon arrival as cases, which originated from Sabah, have already been reported.
He also says aggressive active case detection is needed in Sabah's east-coast districts as most of the infections were from there.
He adds that a Targeted Enhanced MCO may be required for some districts.
This Leader agrees. Prevention is always better than cure, cliched, yes, but necessary. What better alternative than compulsory quarantine for those who have been exposed to the disease?
It's a matter of national security; the lives of millions of Malaysians will be at stake if precautionary measures are not taken.
Why take the risk? It's do or die.