Yoursay: Reality will hopefully sink in as deaths mount

YOURSAY | 'The Covid-19 outbreak is still at its embryonic or infant stage.'

Covid-19: Death toll rises to 8, total cases 1,183

Clever Voter: The mortality rates will rise as expected. The number of cases will not stabilise so long as potential carriers continue with their routine of ferrying their young and old. This is so sad, but the ignorance of the dangers brings risks to the community.

That's why we need tougher enforcement. As opposed to all those who wanted a softer approach, there is every justification for it as it is for the greater good - to protect the whole society.

The country has to brace for more bad news, and the resilience of the system will be tested once again.

Fairman: I think we have wasted precious time to contain the virus. The important step is to ensure everyone stays indoors over the remaining period of the partial shutdown. The present laws being relied on are inadequate. That is why police and the army have been roped in.

The Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia is still at its embryonic or infant stage. It is still not too late for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to review his strategy to combat the infection.

Vela: I just want to share my experience with trying to get a Covid-19 test. Not for myself yet but for my colleague.

It's almost impossible to get tested if you don't meet the following criteria:

1. Overseas travel;

2. Known contact with an infected, even secondary contact helps; and

3. Contact with the frontline medical officers.

My colleague's wife and maid were down with pretty much all the symptoms - fever, headaches, fatigue and cough. They were declined by public hospitals because of the reasons above.

Private hospitals aren't keen to take them also. So far, only Sunway Medical Centre has said they can accommodate them for testing, but only on Wednesday because of their backlog.

Private clinics also are the same. They have an average quota of 10 home tests per day. So there is a significant backlog there, too.

I am quarantining myself within my study, away from other family members in my home during this lockdown.

The amount of stress this has put on my colleagues and their family members is one thing, but can you imagine how many other potentially infected people are going through the same issues? Especially those who can't afford private hospitals?

The bottom line is Malaysia needs to step up testing. Stop testing based on clusters. It's already community spreading and we aren't really testing the community.

So, what difference does this lockdown make if people are allowed out again in 12 days?

Anonymous_1565089507966.17071565088910469: There is only one person in my mind who I trust to be handling this situation directly and that is Hasan Abdul Rahman, ex-Health director-general.

I have worked with him and know firsthand how he meticulously plans a strategy and makes sure it is implemented at the ground level, even if it means sometimes needing micro-management.

He will go to the ground and see for himself how things are being done. Many people are not aware that he single-handedly (with his meticulous planning) reduced the incidence of malaria in Sabah.

He was also the deputy DG during the SARS outbreak. He was the man doing the work in the background, along with the then DG Ismail Merican. Of course, current DG, Noor Hisham Abdullah, is doing a great job. Kudos to him.

Hasan Abdul Rahman is trained as pakar kesihatan awam (public health specialist) and his experience and expertise can play an important role in bringing Covid-19 pandemic under control in Malaysia.

Of course, if we can get the former health minister, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, to helm the ministry, it will be an icing on the cake.

Fuminghot: Health DG Noor Hisham, you better take care of yourself too. Don't let all this take a toll on your health.

There is a demand for Dzulkefly to come back. Indeed, this is not a time for playing the Game of Thrones. Our new health minister is a gone case, nobody respects him after his “drink warm water” mess-up.

Anonymous 2485381503371480: With the deaths of the tabligh members (six out of 10 deaths), either they fatalistically accept their inevitability or this will spur them to get tested.

Anonymous_1544340881: The various muftis, who often comment about everything from Jawi and khat, are strangely silent. Are they perhaps afraid to criticise or come down hard on the Sri Petaling attendees?

Are they perhaps afraid that their grassroots, having been taught and indoctrinated by an extreme form of religion, are angry with the authorities and questioning why they cannot go to the mosque?

After all, isn’t the Almighty more powerful than the disease? Is not everything the Almighty's will? Should they not fear the Almighty more than man or this disease? Will the Almighty not protect them, and if they do die, will they die a martyr?

On an important issue like this, only the Perlis mufti speaks out. Credit to him although I do not agree with much of what he says, at least he has the courage to speak up. Indeed, I fear they have created a monster they are scared to challenge.

Anonymous_3b6c1f0c: How many of the cases are tabligh attendees and how many are close contacts?

What about the other sick people who are not tabligh attendees? What is their history? Do they have any connection to a country having a high rate of infections? Or are they close contacts of those who travelled there? Or is this community spread? If it is the latter, when did they first get infected?

These are important information that the government should know or find out and disclose.

If it is community spread, then the only viable option is almost 100 percent lockdown, except for skeleton staff for essential services being assigned in shifts and farmers, fishermen, food logistics and food manufacturing workers being either hosted to stay at designated facilities or at the manufacturing facilities to prevent spread.

Coffee Shop Talk: For a very short while, I was hopeful that the health minister has really found the 'remedy' for Covid-19 - the warm water treatment. But alas, with a higher number of confirmed cases and a doubling of the number of deaths, all my hopes were shattered.

Now, I wonder if there are any other grandma recipes we still haven't tried, minister? - Mkini