Current approach doesn’t follow the science, says Umno veep

 

Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin says those who have been vaccinated should be allowed to get the economy going again.

PETALING JAYA: The way the government has continued to manage Covid-19 after over a year of dealing with it does not reflect the scientific developments that have emerged during the course of the pandemic, Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin has said.

“For example, we are still imposing a months-long lockdown despite multiple warnings against it that have been voiced out by economists, experts and the World Health Organization (WHO),” he said on Facebook.

“The international scientific community has concluded that Covid-19 is endemic, and we have to coexist with it for a long time.”

Khaled said Malaysia should be adopting policies geared towards living with the virus, an approach being considered in many European countries and even neighbouring Singapore.

“In order to realise this, mass testing must be at the forefront. We need to quickly and regularly identify positive cases before a cluster or outbreak of cases happens.

“We need to be able to segregate the ‘positive community’ from the ‘negative community’ without having to put the entire state in lockdown. It would be absurd to impose a lockdown in Seremban simply because there is an outbreak in Nilai,” he said.

With Malaysia’s vaccination efforts gaining speed, he said, there must be a plan in place to allow those who have been vaccinated to start taking part in the economy once again.

“Physical offices can then be allowed to welcome back workers who are already vaccinated.

“The physical retail economy should also be allowed to selectively operate for those who have recovered from Covid-19 and those who have been vaccinated.”

Khaled said for those who tested negative but have yet to be vaccinated, social bubbles could be established to allow physical interactions limited to those within this circle.

These social bubbles could employ proximity technology like the Exposure Notification system developed by Apple and Google to monitor interaction and ensure compliance.

“With this system, we are able to allow vaccinated people to restart the economy, identify and contain Covid-19 positive cases without imposing a statewide blanket lockdown, and facilitate the government to strategically allocate resources to those who are unable to enter the economy.

“We must find a new approach to reverse the situation that we are currently in. We must start taking a proactive approach rather than a reactive one. Our economy cannot be closed any longer. Covid-19 is not just a race against time, it is a long battle that requires an intricate multi-prong strategy.” - FMT