Azrul Mohd Khalib, CEO of the Galen Centre for Health And Social Policy, said the ongoing fourth wave of infections could be traced back to the beginning of Ramadan in mid-April.

“Congregational tarawih, regular and Friday prayers were permitted to be held despite warnings from public health experts that even a reduced number of people would present an unnecessary risk,” he said in a statement.

Azrul also said the decision for mosques, suraus and places of worship to open at 30% or 70% capacity is still not supported by any scientific evidence.

“These are still gatherings. Despite various public health warnings on the risk of Raya get-togethers, people still did them at their homes covertly.

“We saw plenty of evidence of that through the numerous posts on social media.”

As a consequence, he said, the country had seen a consistent increase in newly reported cases since then, vanishing the possibility of containing the virus.

“We are still paying the price for what happened then.”

Noting the “excellent progress” of the national vaccination programme, Azrul said it would be a bad time to be complacent and jeopardise the country’s achievements by failing to comply with SOPs.

He added that the fate of the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia depended on individual behaviour and cooperation.

“People need to resist trying to beat the system, exploit loopholes or deceive themselves and others.

“Celebrating Hari Raya Aidiladha is not more important than keeping yourself and your family safe from Covid-19 infection.”