All-of-govt and whole-of-society strategy needed

 

MP SPEAKS | The time has come for an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” strategy and approach to the war against the Covid-19 pandemic. 

This is as the record-high of 2,335 daily new Covid-19 infections yesterday is proof that the present strategy has failed to check the runaway surge in the third wave of the pandemic.

In fact, it shows that we are not very far from United States Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) projections of 2,987 daily new cases on Jan 1, 2021 and 5,379 infections on March 21.

The purpose of a model is to serve as a warning of the worst that can be expected and the need for urgent remedial measures to be taken. We should not be sitting targets.

The IHME model projected a continuous rise in Covid-19 cases in Malaysia until mid-March, hitting over 5,000 infections daily from Feb 25.

It predicted that the 2,987 daily new Covid-19 cases on Jan 1 would increase to 4,176 on Feb 1, and 5,130 on March 1. The trend is projected to rise until March 21 with 5,379 infections that day, and then decline to 5,301 on April 1.

Going by the IHME model, Malaysia’s cumulative total of Covid-19 cases at the end of March will be in the region of 400,000 cases, which would place Malaysia in the bracket of the world’s top 30-40 countries with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases.

In the world ranking with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, Malaysia was at one time some 50 positions behind China when the pandemic first started. But we have now overtaken China as we are ranked No. 75 with 103,900 cases while China is ranked No. 80 with 86,933 cases.

Today, we are likely to be ranked No. 74 when we overtake Paraguay.

On June 1 this year, Malaysia's “total cases per 1 million population” index was 243. Today, it is more than 13 times higher, 3,190 as compared to China, whose index was 58 on June 1 and is now 60.

In fact, Malaysia has a higher index than most countries in Asia and Asean, apart from Singapore (9,965) and Philippines (4,253). 

In Asia, we have a higher index than Japan (1,691), South Korea (1,090) and Taiwan (33). 

In Asean, we are even higher than Indonesia (2,571). The index in other Asean countries is Thailand (86), Vietnam (15), Cambodia (22) and Laos (6).

The global cumulative total of Covid-19 cases has crossed the 80 million mark with more than 1.7 million Covid-19 fatalities.

It is more than 683 times the 118,000 cases worldwide when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Covid-19 as a pandemic on March 11 – and the pandemic is surging to new grim records, whether in cumulative totals or daily increase in Covid-19 infections.

For instance, on March 11, the global daily increase of Covid-19 cases was 11,384 cases. It has steadily risen to a daily increase of 736,079 on Dec 17, and at this rate of increase, it would reach a daily rate of increase of a million Covid-19 cases by the end of the first quarter of next year.

United States, which is the world’s worst-hit country with most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, will have more than 20 million cases by the end of the year, and probably 25 million cases on Inauguration Day on Jan 20 when Joe Biden would be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States.

It has been a grim Christmas for the world – with surges of Covid-19 cases, the discovery of a more contagious coronavirus variant and stricter travel restrictions worldwide.

South Korea Health Minister Kwon Deok-Cheol said that South Korea “stands at the crossroads of the third wave” as it posted its second-highest daily number of coronavirus cases – 1,132 cases on Christmas Day and 1,241 on Christmas Eve.

But South Korea is better off than Malaysia, for it has 55,902 Covid-19 cases and ranked No. 87 among countries with the most cumulative total of cases, and its highest daily increase is 1,241 as compared to Malaysia’s 2,335 yesterday and our ranking of No. 75 in the world.

There should be an urgent reappraisal of Malaysia’s strategy to bring the third wave of the pandemic under control.

Unfortunately, we have a health minister who is not playing any useful role in the war against the pandemic.

A national council on Covid-19 chaired by former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad should be formed, which should spearhead an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” strategy and approach to bring the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic under control.

Another “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” council to plan for a quick pandemic economic recovery should also be established.

---

LIM KIT SIANG is the DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.