Covid-19: Is gov't ready to do all it can, asks PKR rep

A Penang PKR elected representative has questioned if the government is ready to cope with a full-blown Covid-19 outbreak.

Bukit Tengah assemblyperson Gooi Hsiao Leung asks if the federal government is adequate to deal with the virus in terms of financial resources, hospital beds, human resources, and the enormous impact it would have on the economy.

"What is the government’s short and medium plan to tackle the economic and healthcare challenges in the face of a full-blown Covid-19 outbreak?" Gooi asked in a statement.

With so many urgent questions requiring the government’s public response on Covid-19, Gooi urged Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to immediately convene an emergency parliamentary sitting to address Parliament on the national health threat.

"To wait until Parliament reconvenes on May 18 will be too little too late," Gooi said.

Gooi (below) cited Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah who released the latest numbers of Covid-19 infected cases in the country.

In just two weeks, there has been a sharp increase from 23 to 158 cases.

Noor Hisham also said the government is taking samples from patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome and influenza-like-illness.

This is part of the ministry’s efforts to conduct surveillance to detect sporadic and local cases in Malaysia.

"So far, as I understand it – government testing for the virus is only available to the public if they have either been in close contact with those who tested positive for Covid-19, or people who have recently returned from high-risk countries and have flu-like symptoms," Gooi said.

"People who have flu-like symptoms but have not travelled abroad, cannot simply walk into government hospitals and request for Covid-19 testing," he pointed out.

"Although the government has announced that 11 private companies will be providing home testing kits, the high cost of RM700 for private testing will be unaffordable to many," he noted.

"We know Covid-19 is highly contagious and our biggest concern would be if we start seeing sporadic cases of infection in people who have never travelled to affected areas or have been in contact with infected persons, as this would then indicate that the virus has spread into the community."

Gooi said without adequate and affordable testing being made available to the public, preventing a widespread community transmission would be very difficult.

At this moment, Gooi added that the size and scale of undetected cases spreading in the community, if any, is not known.

He pointed to the case in the United Kingdom, where all patients in hospital who have flu-like symptoms are now being tested.

"Will our government also expand the criteria on who can be tested to cast a wider net to prevent the spread of the virus in the community?" Gooi asked. - Mkini