The Covid 19 situation in our country is at a critical stage.
The mass religious gatherings involving thousands of devotees in Sri Petaling and in Batu Ferringhi should not have taken place at this time.
A huge spike of cases has already begun emanating from the former event.
Given this, the two-week Movement Control Order (MCO) announced by the prime minister on Monday (March 16) was quite timely and entirely appropriate.
We need to cut transmission, identify and treat those infected and quarantine the contacts.
These measures will help contain the epidemic. Wuhan managed to limit the total number infected to about 80,000, which is less than 0.14 percent of Wuhan’s 60 million population, despite the fact that when the epidemic started they had no clue what was going on.
We, being forewarned should be able to do better than that, and until the Sri Petaling event, were doing very well by global standards.
So the MCO is quite appropriate. However several of the measures implemented by the National Security Council (NSC) yesterday undermined the purpose of the MCO.
The inspector-general of police made a televised statement on the evening of March 17 that all interstate travel from the 18th onwards would require a certificate from the police.
That led to masses of people crowding at various police stations in several cities trying to acquire these certificates.
The point of the MCO is to reduce the amount of intermingling of the population.
The way the police handled it shows that they were blur about the main objective of the MCO and that they had not thought through the whole process.
The inspector-general of police made a televised statement on the evening of March 17 that all interstate travel from the 18th onwards would require a certificate from the police.
That led to masses of people crowding at various police stations in several cities trying to acquire these certificates.
The point of the MCO is to reduce the amount of intermingling of the population.
The way the police handled it shows that they were blur about the main objective of the MCO and that they had not thought through the whole process.
The advice to students of tertiary institutions to vacate their campuses was another unnecessary misstep.
The whole point of the MCO is to get people to stay put and not go out and mix with others some of whom might be infected but not yet very symptomatic.
Pushing half a million students out of hostels resulted in crowds in bus and train terminals and a lot of mingling.
Currently, the epidemic is centred in the Klang Valley. The enforced dispersal of varsity students to their home towns is likely to take the epidemic to all parts of the country.
Suspension of classes was necessary to prevent transmission. But students should have been advised to stay put in the dormitories and measures taken to ensure their meals were taken care of.
We cannot afford mistakes of this magnitude at this point in the epidemic.
The whole point of the MCO is to get people to stay put and not go out and mix with others some of whom might be infected but not yet very symptomatic.
Pushing half a million students out of hostels resulted in crowds in bus and train terminals and a lot of mingling.
Currently, the epidemic is centred in the Klang Valley. The enforced dispersal of varsity students to their home towns is likely to take the epidemic to all parts of the country.
Suspension of classes was necessary to prevent transmission. But students should have been advised to stay put in the dormitories and measures taken to ensure their meals were taken care of.
We cannot afford mistakes of this magnitude at this point in the epidemic.
The failure of the NSC to invite five state governments to its meeting is another huge disappointment for the rakyat.
We are facing a serious epidemic that has overwhelmed the health system of several other countries.
We are racing against time to contain the epidemic in Malaysia. This is no time for petty politicking. We all need to work together. The Rakyat are prepared to follow your leadership.
The NSC needs to bring the nation together by handling all issues in a mature, rational and well-informed manner.
We are facing a serious epidemic that has overwhelmed the health system of several other countries.
We are racing against time to contain the epidemic in Malaysia. This is no time for petty politicking. We all need to work together. The Rakyat are prepared to follow your leadership.
The NSC needs to bring the nation together by handling all issues in a mature, rational and well-informed manner.
The prime minister said that the NSC is overseeing the entire Covid 19 containment exercise.
We appreciate the fact that the prime minister himself is chairing the NSC.
Our advice to the NSC is to consult the health professionals before making any major decisions.
Measures being considered should be discussed with a technical committee comprising epidemiologists, public health specialists and sociologists in the Ministry of Health before being announced.
We appreciate the fact that the prime minister himself is chairing the NSC.
Our advice to the NSC is to consult the health professionals before making any major decisions.
Measures being considered should be discussed with a technical committee comprising epidemiologists, public health specialists and sociologists in the Ministry of Health before being announced.
Anti-epidemic measures cannot be by trial and error. For each error will promote the transmission of the infection to more people and that will cost us dearly as a society.
So please NSC, get your act together and consult before making any more rash decisions.
So please NSC, get your act together and consult before making any more rash decisions.
DR MICHAEL JEYAKUMAR DEVARAJ is the PSM chairperson. He is also a lung physician and the former Sungai Siput MP - Mkini
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