MP SPEAKS | Why is M'sia not learning best lessons in fighting Covid-19?
MP SPEAKS | On April 24, 2020, I suggested the establishment of a Covid-19 Pandemic Study Centre to learn from the successes and mistakes of other nations so that we can be effective and efficient in our war against the Covid-19 pandemic.
But like the many constructive suggestions that I had made last year on how best to fight the pandemic, it fell on deaf ears.
I had said that although Malaysia had done comparatively well in the international arena in the war against Covid-19, having fallen from the top 18th country in the world to No. 43 in terms of the cumulative total of Covid-19 cases and the ranking of 33 to 49 in terms Covid-19 deaths. We had still to learn from the successes and mistakes of other nations.
We were once some 50 positions behind China, the country where the pandemic started and which had a population 40 times that of Malaysia, in a cumulative total of Covid-19 cases. Now, we are 10 rankings ahead of China, as we are ranked No. 72 among countries in the world with the most cumulative total of 117,373 cases while China is ranked 82 with 87,093 cases.
The question Malaysians are entitled to ask is - why we are not learning the best lessons from the top ten countries in the Bloomberg Covid-19 Resilience Ranking?...
MP SPEAKS | On April 24, 2020, I suggested the establishment of a Covid-19 Pandemic Study Centre to learn from the successes and mistakes of other nations so that we can be effective and efficient in our war against the Covid-19 pandemic.
But like the many constructive suggestions that I had made last year on how best to fight the pandemic, it fell on deaf ears.
I had said that although Malaysia had done comparatively well in the international arena in the war against Covid-19, having fallen from the top 18th country in the world to No. 43 in terms of the cumulative total of Covid-19 cases and the ranking of 33 to 49 in terms Covid-19 deaths. We had still to learn from the successes and mistakes of other nations.
We were once some 50 positions behind China, the country where the pandemic started and which had a population 40 times that of Malaysia, in a cumulative total of Covid-19 cases. Now, we are 10 rankings ahead of China, as we are ranked No. 72 among countries in the world with the most cumulative total of 117,373 cases while China is ranked 82 with 87,093 cases.
The question Malaysians are entitled to ask is - why we are not learning the best lessons from the top ten countries in the Bloomberg Covid-19 Resilience Ranking?
In the second monthly Covid-19 Resilience Ranking released on Dec 21, 2020, the top ten countries were New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, Norway, Singapore, Finland, Japan, South Korea, China and Denmark. Malaysia ranked No. 22.
Take South Korea, which is placed at No. 8. Its Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol had just announced an expansion of a ban on private gatherings larger than four people to include the whole country, and extended unprecedented social distancing rules in Seoul and neighbouring areas until Jan 17 to blunt a Covid-19 surge which had led to a spike in deaths.
If we look at Covid-19 pandemic data, South Korea is in a very much better position than Malaysia, but South Korea takes the pandemic more seriously.
South Korea is ranked No. 86 with 62,593 cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, registering a daily increase of 824 new cases and 942 fatalities – as compared to Malaysia, ranked No. 72, with 117,373 Covid-19 cases, with the latest daily increase of 2,295 in new Covid-19 cases and 483 fatalities.
Health Minister Dr Adham Baba is conspicuous by his absence in the Covid-19 pandemic as he had incapacitated himself in a series of fiascos like the "warm water cure for Covid-19", "500 countries" and "15 states in Malaysia" gaffes.
But Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin cannot remove him as health minister as Adham may decide on Muhyiddin's political fate – whether Muhyiddin could win in the Pagoh parliamentary seat in the 15th general election.
I am not suggesting that Malaysia revert back to a national lockdown, but we must be nimble, agile and quick-witted to the many challenges of the pandemic.
There is no doubt that over the months, Muhyiddin has lost the trust and confidence of the Malaysian people in his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the double standards and hypocritical stance of Perikatan Nasional (PN) ministers and leaders with regard to the Covid-19 standard operating procedures.
Dr Mohamed Rafick Khan's following comment yesterday on the Covid-19 pandemic deserves close consideration not only by ordinary Malaysians but also by the authorities:
"Like everyone else, I used to follow the Health Ministry's (MOH) daily ritualistic Covid-19 briefing and on the side, try to give my input to my friends in MOH. Unfortunately, not everything is being considered. It is within their rights.
"As time passes with the observation of what I term as insensible strategies and selective application of the law, I see little value to follow the daily brief anymore.
"Today, I glanced through the MOH Facebook site and saw the comments there. I tried to put a thought-provoking comment (using an alias), but it was deleted within minutes. What is allowed is all kinds of praise to MOH and its top officials as well as doa to Allah.
"As of Jan 2, 2021, total positive cases are 117,373. Total considered cured (negative Covid-19 test) after admission is 94,492 and total deaths to date are 483 cases.
"Let's try to understand these numbers. Essentially, 80.51 percent of positive tested cases were admitted and discharged and considered cured (ie tested negative) and 0.411 percent died. The total being admitted currently is 19.07 percent of the total cases being tested positive.
"From another scientific study based on Malaysian cases published in The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific Medical Journal titled 'Clinical characteristics and risk factors for severe Covid-19 infections in Malaysia: A nationwide observational study' by Benedict Lim Heng Sim et al, it was reported that up to 92 percent was having mild diseases with a low death rate of 1.2 percent. If we take the finding of this study and extrapolate with today's stats, we can conclude the following:
(a) MOH is admitting 20,606 mild and asymptomatic cases in the hospitals and this unnecessary admission is straining the hospital resource and depriving other patients with other diseases from treatment in hospitals;
(b) The balance 1,667 was probably moderate cases requiring some symptomatic medical support and the balance of 125 cases is serious enough to require ICU treatment.
"Therefore, it is appropriate MOH revisit its admission and isolation strategies and start managing hospital resources optimally and stop giving the public a false impression of the illness and the impact on the public through its public briefing.
"It needs to give more reassuring numbers like the daily count of patients that are considered mild and don't require hospital admission. Misleading the public is a crime and has a significant impact on people's lives.
"Many professionals that engaged regularly have stopped listening to MOH and the National Security Council's daily brief. The respect that people once had for the government and MOH have diluted significantly due to its own folly; it's best that it is managed quickly before it goes down to zero.
"We need to start giving the true picture, and this trial vaccination programme is probably best limited to the elderlies and those with pre-existing chronic illnesses."
LIM KIT SIANG is the DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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