British YouTuber impressed by M’sia’s Covid-19 measures
Well-known British presenter and YouTuber Mark O’Dea has praised Malaysia on how the country has handled the Covid-19 pandemic in a series of videos.
O’Dea, who has been in Malaysia since 2012, documented his experiences of returning to Malaysia recently from England via a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong and his brief stay at a hotel while undergoing mandatory quarantine.
Among the measures he noticed were the social distancing regulations, temperature scanning and health safety procedures upon landing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on June 10.
“When I arrived in London, we didn’t have any of these.
“The authorities didn’t check which country we came from and there were no thermal scanners.
“I suppose this is why Malaysia has such few cases because they are really taking good steps when it comes to health and safety,” he said.
The 29-year-old said those flying into Malaysia were questioned about their health status and had to undergo a Covid-19 swab test before leaving the airport for mandatory quarantine in a hotel.
O’Dea, who was with the Malaysian-based boy band London Boys, also quipped that he saw “men in suits like in a crime scene” disinfecting the luggage before boarding the bus.
“It’s really impressive how Malaysia is taking stringent measures to safeguard health and safety.
“The coolest thing is we even had a police escort,” he said in the recording, which garnered some 300,000 views.
O’Dea, who had hosted several local shows here, also expressed how impressed he was with the hotel, which he had to stay there for two weeks.
“The word ‘quarantine hotel’ sounds like prison or something.
“But it’s really not bad at all,” he said of the hotel in Kepong.
The YouTuber, who is wellknown for his videos on Malaysia, was required to join a WhatsApp group for alert notifications while his temperature was monitored daily during the quarantine period.
To keep himself occupied, O’Dea, who is a fitness enthusiast, set up a small workstation in his room and even did his daily workout using two water-filled 15kg dumbbells.
Although he had to pay RM150 for the hotel room, O’Dea said he did not mind as he enjoyed the meals and was also able to order additional food.
O’Dea, who has 105,000 YouTube subscribers, said he was glad when his swab test came back negative.