Time to prepare for a possibly prolonged Covid-19 wave

 We would like to congratulate Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad for his appointment as health minister in the recent cabinet reshuffle. We wish him all the best in carrying out his duties in a ministry which he is well familiar with.

In light of the new Covid-19 cases reaching a yearly high of 29,129 cases on Dec 11, 2023, which is part of a regional and global trend, we call upon Dr Dzulkefly to consider the following actions in preparation for a prolonged increase number of cases as part of a emergent Covid-19 “wave”.

Firstly, the Health Ministry should reinstate the Test, Report, Isolate, Inform, Seek (TRIIS) method or framework to alert the public that they should take preventive measures and for the public sector to be prepared for the possibility of a new “wave” of Covid-19 infections.

Secondly, the ministry should recommend the taking of new booster shots, especially among the vulnerable communities - the aged and those with pre-existing conditions.

The Health Ministry should work with the Finance Ministry to facilitate a transparent procurement process for the latest variants of the booster vaccine which is available in the market.

At the same time, the Health Ministry should start reactivating the vaccination ecosystem through private and public clinics and hospitals.

Thirdly, the ministry should consider restarting the use of MySejahtera for reporting and monitoring the health of Covid-19 patients.

At the same time, the ministry should also deploy its data analytics team (or work with others with data analytics capabilities) to analyse new Covid-19 data to look for new patterns of outbreaks based on location, workplace, and other patient demographics.

Researchers can also access the Covid-19 public data to assist in the data analytics tasks.

Fourthly, the Health Ministry should work closely with the International Trade and Industry Ministry and the Ministry of Human Resources to detect patterns of outbreaks among factory workers and to conduct investigations on the living conditions of these workers.

One of the reasons for the “factory clusters” that took place during the pandemic was the fact that many of these workers, mostly foreign, were cramped into housing that was overcrowded and without proper ventilation.

Strong action must be taken against those companies which still house their foreign workers in poor conditions which are not compliant with international labour standards.

Fifthly, the Health Ministry should consider publishing daily Covid-19 fatalities as a means of keeping the public informed of the severity of new strains and, by doing so, provide more encouragement to the public to take their booster shots, especially among the most at-risk groups.

We hope that this latest spike in Covid-19 cases will only be a temporary one but given our previous experience during the pandemic, we should be vigilant and take the necessary precautions to protect the lives of those living in our country. - Mkini

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KHAIRY JAMALUDDIN is former health minister and ONG KIAN MING is former deputy international trade and industry minister.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.