KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry’s focus on daily Covid-19 figures is “not very meaningful” as they are based on the number of people tested, said former deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong.
“If there are more screenings and contract tracing, the number (of infections) will be higher and reflect the current situation,” said the DAP senator in a statement yesterday.
He added that the ministry has been using the “wrong key performance index (KPIs) on the daily cases”.
“Instead of concern over a high number of cases, we should be concerned about why the ministry is not carrying out sufficient screening and effective contact-tracing methods.”
He added that although there is an average of 2,000 cases a day, he believes the number of infections reported is far below the actual figure due to limited tests and screenings.
“The ministry should reject the idea that only symptomatic patients should be screened. We need to provide a screening system for public facilities as much as possible, where all close and second-tier contacts can get screened if they wish. Not only those who are directly related to a Covid-19 case.
“We should also conduct large-scale screening on as many prisoners and foreign workers living in crowded dormitories. The two main sources of these cases should be given priority to control the spread of the pandemic.”
Liew said polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening results should be made available in 24 hours, while antigen (RTK) tests must be available as widely as possible and at reasonable prices.
He added that the country needs not worry about seeing a higher number of cases as it is more important to know the truth rather than living under a false sense of security.
Liew said not all asymptomatic cases require admission to hospitals or medical facilities.
“Instead of sending all asymptomatic patients to quarantine centres that do not have proper toilet facilities and necessities, and exposing them to other diseases, those with adequate personal space who will not infect other individuals can be quarantined at home.
“We need the right standard operating procedures for this purpose.” – The Vibes, January 12, 2021
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