KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Halfway into the 14-day campaign period for the Johor state election, four of the 239 election candidates have tested positive for Covid-19.

Who are they? And how are they reaching out to voters despite being unable to campaign physically for a week while being under quarantine?

Excluded from the list are two individuals, one who was swapped out and another who had completed quarantine ahead of the Johor election campaign period.

Even before the Johor state election began, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) announced on February 25 that its original candidate for the Endau state seat — Zaini Tahar — had tested positive for Covid-19 on February 24 and replaced him with Mohd Noorhisyam Ibrahim.

PKR’s expected Larkin state seat candidate Dr Zamil Najwah Arbain announced on February 17 that he had tested positive for Covid-19 via a routine self-test, and on February 24, announced that his quarantine period had ended. That was two days before nomination day, enabling him to carry out physical campaigning activities since then. 

Here’s the list of four election candidates who tested positive for Covid-19 since the Johor state election campaign period began on February 26:

1.         PKR’s Gambir candidate Naim Jusri (February 26)

Naim tested positive on nomination day (February 26) itself when he underwent a health screening upon arrival at the nomination centre.

While the Covid-19 standard operating procedures resulted in him being denied entry to personally submit his nomination papers after testing positive, the Johor PKR secretary was allowed to be a candidate with his nomination papers submitted by his proposer and seconder.

Based on Naim’s Facebook page, he had shared photos and posts on campaign activities in Gambir by his team while he remained under quarantine. He also shared events or activities where PKR leaders such as when Johor PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, former Machap Jaya state assemblyman Datuk Ginie Lim, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR advisory council chairman Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail dropped in to help campaign on his behalf. Naim had also posted short videos of himself on Facebook, and joined online forums.

According to a report by local daily The Star, his quarantine period has ended. He was already out on March 5 for campaigning. This leaves him with seven days of personally carrying out physical campaigning before voting day on March 12.

2.         PKR’s Bukit Batu candidate Arthur Chiong Sen Sern (February 27)

On the second day of the campaigning period (February 27), Chiong posted a Facebook post at night to announce that he had tested positive for Covid-19 following his daily self-test routine and urged all who had met him in recent days to undergo Covid-19 testing.

In his announcement, he said his team would continue to carry out election campaign activities, while he would conduct online campaigning through social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook while undergoing quarantine. The next day, he also shared that the PKR Bukit Batu operations room was sanitised.

Based on his Facebook page, he had posted videos of himself, and had also spoken to voters through video calls as his representative held a mobile device when meeting voters. 

Selangor PKR Youth chief and Rawang state assemblyman Chua Wei Kiat and PKR’s Selayang MP William Leong had also joined Chiong’s team in campaigning activities, while Chiong himself also personally made phone calls to voters and joined an online forum. PKR president Anwar is also scheduled to appear at an event tonight (March 5) to help Chiong campaign.

March 5 was the last day of Chiong’s quarantine, and he will resume physical campaigning on March 6. This leaves Chiong with six more days of physical campaigning before voting day.

3.         Barisan Nasional’s Penggaram candidate Ter Hwa Kwong (March 4)

On March 4 (seventh day of campaigning period), Ter — who is also a Batu Pahat Municipal Council councillor — announced in Facebook posts in the afternoon that he was confirmed on the same day to be Covid-19 positive.

Ter said he had on March 3 immediately cancelled all campaign activities and he had gone for an RT-PCR test and self-isolated from that day, after being notified that he had been in contact with a person who tested positive for Covid-19. 

Apologising to those who may have become close contacts throughout his previous days of physical election campaigning activities, Ter said his team would continue to campaign on his behalf as he undergoes quarantine for the next few days.

Ter has since then posted short videos on Facebook, including saying he would continue his campaign online and informing that he is in good condition except for mild symptoms.

4.         DAP’s Pekan Nanas candidate Yeo Tung Siong (March 4)

On March 4 (seventh day of campaigning period), Yeo announced in a Facebook post at night that he had received results of his RT-PCR test conducted on March 3. This came after he had tested negative via a self-test kit on March 3, and after he had gone for the RT-PCR test and cancelled his activities after feeling unwell in the afternoon. He had self-quarantined since March 3 and said he only experienced mild symptoms as he had received his booster dose, while also urging those who are close contacts to undergo Covid-19 testing.

Yeo’s Pekan Nanas election operations room was sanitised on March 5, and he switched to having online chats with voters through Facebook Live, and also made video calls to voters via a mobile gadget held by his team during physical visits.

As the incumbent Pekan Nanas state assemblyman prior to the Johor state elections, Yeo has also throughout the campaign period listed on Facebook his achievements or contributions. He had on March 4 also posted his 14-point election manifesto on Facebook.

As he is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and had also received his booster shot, the mandatory seven-day quarantine period would likely leave Yeo with about one or two days of physical campaigning before the March 12 voting day, depending on when his quarantine period began.

5.         DAP’s Jementah candidate Ng Kor Sim (March 5)

On March 5, 2022 (ninth day of campaigning period), Ng announced on her Facebook account that she has taken to self-isolation after being notified of being in close contact with a Covid-19 positive person. Her first self-test was negative but two subsequent ones she did later the same day and the morning after returned positive, so she took an RTK test and it confirmed she had the virus. 

Ng was unable to attend several talks with the DAP leadership due to her positive test results and thanked those who attended the seminars even though she was absent, adding that all SOPs were adhered to. 

She said she would continue her work from home by going online so she can keep in touch with voters during the campaigning period. 

Precautions amid the Omicron wave

As of March 4, the Health Ministry’s CovidNow website showed there are 20,286 active Covid-19 cases in Johor, but with 93.6 per cent undergoing home quarantine (typically for those with mild symptoms or no symptoms), while 1,043 are hospitalised, 221 in low-risk Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres, nine others in intensive care units without requiring respiratory support and 22 in intensive care units requiring respiratory support.

Since the start of the election campaign period, the daily number of new Covid-19 cases for the state of Johor has been within the range of over 1,700 cases to over 2,300 cases.

In the latest standard operating procedures by the Election Commission (EC) in line with proposals from the Health Ministry and National Security Council as of March 2, additional and amended campaigning rules for the Johor state election include disallowing public speeches in open premises or public spaces.

The updated rules however state that public speeches or campaigns through ceramah can be done within the compound of a political party’s office or the party’s official operations room, with the condition that it is not held beyond midnight, and with the attendance of all — including organiser, secretariat, speaker and participants — to not exceed 100 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity depending on whichever is lower, and with physical distancing of at least one metre and the wearing of face masks required.

The full set of election campaigning SOPs for the Johor state election as of March 2 can be found on the National Security Council’s website, such as only allowing a maximum of five persons to carry out walkabouts or house-to-house visits but without entering the house and only allowed to distribute flyers from outside the gate, and only allowing fully-vaccinated individuals to be present at ceramah or public speeches, as well as requiring election campaign workers to self-test every two days throughout the campaign period.