MARCH 16 ― Yesterday Malaysia recorded 190 new Covid-19 cases, an alarming increase of 80 per cent; bringing our total number of cases to 428.
Our Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba announced that Malaysia has entered the “late containment” phase of the Covid-19 outbreak.
On a personal note, yesterday my colleague who is a general practitioner is still fighting for his life in the ICU, Sungai Buloh Hospital after he was infected with the virus while treating a patient.
Let’s recap what happened during the last few days.
In spite of the ever-increasing number of Covid-19 cases as a result of the tabligh gathering held at the Sri Petaling mosque, newspapers reported that at least two mass gatherings were held last Friday.
The first was the Masi Magam celebration held in Pulau Pinang, which attracted about 30,000 devotees.
Yesterday, the president of Malaysia Hindu Sangam was reported as advising the devotees to go for medical examination to ensure they are not infected with Covid-19 virus.
If all of them were to follow his advice, it will definitely overwhelm our already strained healthcare resources.
Obviously, he and most probably many Malaysians are not aware of the guideline for the general public on when to seek healthcare in relation to Covid-19 infection.
Hence, there is a need to relook at the dissemination of such guidelines to avoid unnecessary fear and straining of our limited health care resources (including unnecessary Covid-19 testing).
The second mass gathering was the Perhimpunan Guru Guru Silat Rumpun Sarawak held in Kuching and attended by the chief minister himself and several state ministers.
Apparently the organisers of both mass gatherings did not heed the lessons from the earlier held tabligh gathering and the risks associated with holding mass gatherings in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Then there was the Malaysia Travel Fair held over the weekend at PWTC, which was officiated by a top official from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. It was supposedly targeted to attract 100,000 visitors.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s address to the nation on Friday among others, announced the cancellation or postponement of mass gatherings until April 30.
However, there was no follow-up announcement on the specifics of the ban such as types and places of gatherings as well as the number of persons present which will constitute as a mass gathering.
There was also no mention about how the ban will be monitored and enforced. For all intent and purposes, the banning of mass gatherings remains vague.
Until we are past the peak of infection, the most effective public measure is to impose and force a total ban on mass gatherings as well as strictly practice other social restrictions to slow down the infection rate; achieving the so-called “flattening the curve”.
Otherwise, a sudden drastic uptake in the number of cases will overwhelm our healthcare resources.
Universiti Sains Malaysia has been reported as will only be conducting classes online from yesterday onwards to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia on the other hand, has temporarily suspended all lessons, activities and gatherings from yesterday after one of its staffs had tested positive for Covid-19.
A prominent respiratory specialist has highlighted that many in the congregation for Friday prayers in mosques are migrant workers, both legal and illegal.
If the Covid-19 infection is to spread among them, it will be a Herculean task for our overstretched health personnel to conduct contact tracing and containment measures in the migrant communities.
At present, Islamic religious affairs come under state jurisdiction. As can be seen last Friday, HRH The Raja of Perlis has decreed that the Friday congregation prayers in his state be substituted with home prayers.
Jakim, which controlled mosques in the Federal Territories, delayed its decision until finally announcing at the last hour that Friday prayers will proceed as usual. Other state religious authorities preferred to keep silent.
The government must seek the consent of their Royal Highnesses the YDP Agong and the State Rulers to instruct their respective religious authorities to revert to a national authority preferably JAKIM for a common guidance for the Muslims.
In this era of misinformation and fake news as well as to avoid ambiguity and conflicting instruction by different state religious authorities, it is wiser that a single authority at the national level be responsible in issuing any guidance to the Muslims.
Reassure their Royal Highnesses that this is only a temporary measure in this dire health situation that the nation is facing.
Hence, the happenings around the country during the last few days clearly indicate there is a lack of understanding in what needs to be done and the different approaches taken by different organizations and communities in facing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some seem to have taken the right approaches but many others are either oblivious or indifferent to the threat.
The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry Deputy Minister Rosol Wahid was reported to have said that the shortage of face masks and hand sanitisers will be raised at the Cabinet meeting this Wednesday.
Hence, the rakyat has to wait three more days for a decision to be made and probably many more days before that decision will be implemented.
To have every other decision approved by the cabinet that only meets once a week is a recipe for disaster when we are faced with a fast evolving spread of Covid-19.
It has been reported that at present the Ministry of Health spearheads the committee that has been tasked to confront the pandemic.
The ministry is doing a heroic job and we should be grateful for the dedication shown by its personnel but we cannot leave them alone in fighting this battle. It is imperative that a high-level committee headed by the prime minister or at least a senior minister replace the present committee.
This committee should be vested with the authority and power to make decisions and get them implemented across different ministries and departments.
The threat from this pandemic need a holistic approach involving multiple ministries, government departments and agencies; as well as important stakeholders from the private sector.
While other countries including our Asean neighbours have taken tough measures, we seem to be in a state of indecisiveness.
Let’s us not wait until the case tally reaches into the thousands and deaths have occurred to finally jolt us into action in facing down the Covid-19 pandemic.
There must be a strong political will to take any tough but necessary measures. Learn from the bitter lessons that China underwent and now the EU nations are facing.
They were complacent and were reactive rather than proactive. We do not want to reach the stage of having to impose a total lockdown.
Act now while we still can. It is far better to err on the caution side rather than to take half-measures that are ineffective, which may even aid in the spread of the infection.
Now is the time for the whole government machinery and the private sector together with the rakyat to act as one in facing the threat.
Mr Prime Minister Sir, please take charge.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
