Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he was prepared to take abuse from the public amid frustration over measures against Covid-19 but urged people to play their part in bringing the pandemic under control.
Muhyiddin said the government has granted any request that the Health Ministry wanted to help fight the pandemic but no amount of extra hospital beds will help if the number of Covid-19 cases continued to climb.
He noted that in some hospitals, the remains of the dead now have to be stored in containers.
"This is sad and I don't really have words for this but it's one measure to manage it properly even though the situation has reached this level.
"But even if we add tens of thousands of bed, it would be meaningless if tomorrow (cases) go up to 20,000. We do the best of our ability...
"That is why we have to ask the people to help themselves so that they do not fall ill or die from being lax," he told a joint interview with Bernama TV and RTM.
Muhyiddin said the people can blame the government but a whole-of-society approach is needed.
"They can blame the government. They can scold the prime minister. I accept. scold 'stupid prime minister', it's okay. I can say it on television.
"I know how difficult it is to manage. But this is our joint responsibility. The approach is not whole-of-government but whole-of-society.
"The entire society must come together, only then we can flatten the Covid-19 curve," he said.
Muhyiddin said the light at the end of the tunnel was not too far off.
He said the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines was "settled" as the government has already ordered for more than 100 percent of the population.
"It is not an issue of whether we get the supply or not. The question is when they will arrive," he said.
However, the said deliveries were being expedited and the entire supply is expected to arrive by the end of this year instead of 2022 as previously scheduled.
"I have been given the guarantee by my minister and I hold him to his word. We can get all the supply before the end of this year,' he said.
Muhyiddin said based on existing infrastructure, the country can administer 150,000 doses of vaccine in a day but the actual administering of the vaccine has not yet reached that level pending the arrival of the supply.
On the presence of new Covid-19 variants in the country, Muhyiddin said border controls could not 100 percent guarantee that they won't be able to enter.
He said this was due to undocumented migrants illegally crossing Malaysia's borders as well as Malaysians from abroad returning home. - Mkini
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