Does the Health Ministry think that Malaysians have such a fragile heart that they cannot handle bad news? Whenever there is a health crisis — be it dengue, meningitis or cox sackie epidemics — it will respond the same way: Blanket ban on information.

Who are they trying to protect? How can I be harmed if I am given the right information? Or is the ministry afraid that by releasing the information it will show how inefficient it has been? Like in the Nipah virus case?

If this epidemic had happened in a country with a well-developed infectious diseases unit, it would have been under control by now.