4,000 cases a day hard to hit with present measures, warns Boon Chye

 

Lee Boon Chye says that instead of aiming to lower the number of cases, the government should target more vaccinations and less use of ICU beds.

PETALING JAYA: With workplace clusters making up over two-thirds of daily Covid infections, former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said the below-4,000 cases a day threshold to transition out the present lockdown may be far harder to reach.

“The number of daily cases also depends on the number of tests done. If more testing is done, the number of infections will be higher. If there are fewer tests, the number will be lower,” he told FMT.

Due to that, he said the daily new infections are not an accurate representation of the Covid-19 situation in the country.

He was asked to comment on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s announcement that Malaysia will only transition to Phase 2 of the national recovery plan when case numbers drop to below 4,000 a day.

Other indicators to transition to Phase 2 are that the rate of bed use in intensive care units is at a moderate level and that 10% of the population has received two doses of the vaccine.

Lee, the PKR Gopeng MP, urged the government to review workplace SOPs especially on operations, hostels and transporting workers, as infections had not fallen despite a lockdown since June 1.

He added that the government should also focus on the vaccination rate and the number of ICU beds to move to phase 2.

“The number of doses is predictable and achievable if it is sped up,” Lee said. “Moderate use of ICU beds is also achievable if the government creates more beds with ventilators.

“The capacity to handle stage 4 and 5 cases will be increased,” he said.

However, the number of daily cases depends on the number of tests done in a day, and it can remain high “indefinitely” if workplace clusters remain, Lee said.

Due to that, he urged for more people to be vaccinated as fewer ICU beds will be required “while the country improves on contact tracing, which is still inefficient.”

Lee had previously said contact tracing should be done within 24 hours after a case has been confirmed to stop transmission. - FMT