However, if they must be held, then new and stricter SOPs must be in place and postal voting encouraged, he added.
His comments come amid reports that the 12th Sarawak state election, which must take place by June next year, is expected to be held soon, while the Batu Sapi by-election in Sabah is scheduled to take place on Dec 5.
Speaking at a press conference today, Noor Hisham said the ministry was concerned over another surge in Covid-19 cases after an election, as seen with the Sabah polls.
“Our recommendation is not to have an election. But if we must have it, maybe we can look into different means of carrying out the election, such as no cross-border or cross-district travel, no gatherings and no house-to-house visits.
“We have learned this from Sabah. We hope we do not repeat similar consequences of the election in other states.”
He said the ministry would hold discussions with the Election Commission (EC) over the possibility of using postal votes as well.
Noor Hisham said the ministry was currently utilising RTK Antigen tests over RT-PCR tests, as the shorter turnaround time for results meant isolating positive cases and placing them in quarantine centres faster.
He added that the ministry was looking at converting empty spaces in the nine dedicated Covid-19 hospitals in Sabah into intensive care units (ICU) in order to increase the number of ICU beds to treat category 4 and 5 patients who required respiratory assistance.
Noor Hisham also advised NGOs from conducting their own healthcare services without consulting the health ministry, as inexperienced NGOs might risk spreading the virus further.
“The biggest challenge in Sabah is logistics, the state Health Department is overwhelmed. We need to use the whole holistic government approach as well as the society approach.
“For NGOs which do not have experience, we will give them basic training. We can complement each other rather than duplicate the services at ground level.”
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