Liow: Don’t let germs ‘hitch a ride’ during festive break

Star: BENTONG: Take care of your personal hygiene or risk having “uninvited guests” for Chinese New Year.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai warned that germs could be “hitching a ride” over the Chinese New Year break.
“We find there is usually an increase in infectious disease outbreaks, such as the hand, foot and mouth disease, during and after festivities with so many people going back to their hometowns or attending gatherings.
“Take care of cleanliness and make sure that your hands, especially, are clean,” he said after launching the MTD Group’s road safety campaign at the Bentong toll plaza.
Liow said food safety was important because of the increase in food poisoning cases during festivals.
Earlier, Liow said dengue cases had doubled in recent times, from 200 to 300 cases per week between December and this month.
“Last week, there were 481 cases and the increase could be due to the rainy season,” he said at another function in Rawang.
He urged the public to clean their homes before leaving for their festive breaks to ensure there was no stagnant water that would allow mosquitoes to breed.