KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — DAP lawmaker Lim Kit Siang today asked Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to clarify the country’s latest Covid-19 deaths, pointing to the different data given by two websites.
The Iskandar Puteri MP said he was confused as data from the Health Ministry’s CovidNow website recorded 42 new deaths yesterday while Worldometer showed Malaysia had 222 instead.
“If the Worldometer website is right about 222 Covid-19 deaths yesterday, Khairy must call for a total revamp of the anti-Covid policy and strategy, for such high Covid-19 death numbers in the eighth week of Khairy as Health Minister only means we are adopting the wrong policy and strategy,” he said in a statement.
Lim said that the data was rather concerning as the country has started to reopen the economy.
He also pointed out that the Melaka state election is just around the corner. Polling day has been set for November 20, while official campaigning will begin from November 8 which is nomination day, a little more than two weeks away.
“There is need for greater clarity as to what ‘Living with Covid’ means and this is an area, which the government should communicate more effectively with the people,” Lim added.
The CovidNow website has been used as the Health Ministry’s official portal for Covid-19 data and is updated daily, with the number of confirmed deaths usually listed at midnight.
However, the death tally also includes backlogged cases as and when the ministry investigates and confirms the causes of those who died outside hospitals.
The latest death toll as listed by the CovidNow website is 28,354, with only 42 lives lost as of yesterday, including 10 who were brought-in-dead.
In comparison, the Worldometer — an international website that touts its information source as each country's respective Health Ministry or equivalent authority — listed Malaysia as having 222 Covid-19 deaths, raising the cumulative death number to 28,534.
