DAP’s Teresa Kok said studies had shown that physical inactivity significantly heightened suicidal behaviour.

She said that while the government was trying to contain the Covid-19 pandemic via movement control orders in various states, it was “high time” the administration looked seriously into the current rise in mental illness cases and suicides.

She added that no matter how much the government, elected representatives and the private sector tried to feed the poor, they were unable to help reduce mental stress.

Kok said charitable acts, like distributing food, would not effectively reduce suicide rates in the country, adding that the focus must be on mental health.

“It is important for the government to open up parks to allow people who are under tremendous mental stress during the pandemic to exercise and release stress under strict SOPs, as is suggested by research,” the Seputeh MP said in a statement.

Kok also said that apart from suicide rates, the nation was also witnessing a spike in domestic violence, which has been referred to as “a pandemic within a pandemic”.

The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), she said, had confirmed that domestic violence cases were at crisis levels, months after the lockdown.

And many domestic violence victims had nowhere to turn to when they desperately needed counselling and temporary shelters.

“It is high time the government allowed more counselling centres to operate by following strict SOPs,” she said, adding that currently, many counselling centres were forced to close because they were not considered an essential service.

On Thursday, CID director Abd Jalil Hassan said the nation recorded 468 suicide cases from January to May – an average of three suicide cases every day.

Selangor recorded 117 suicides in the first five months of this year. By comparison, Johor recorded 101 suicides throughout 2019 and last year.