KUALA LUMPUR – With the country expected to pass the dreaded 1 million mark in total Covid-19 infections today, opposition MPs have taken the government to task over its wavering and apparently ineffectual strategies in reining the pandemic.
Amanah strategy director Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, who is former health minister, responded to the prime minister’s announcement that fully vaccinated individuals will be given some “breathing space” to allow them to enjoy sports and social activities.
In a Twitter post today, the Kuala Selangor MP accused Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration of being aloof and disconnected from the realities on the ground.
He stressed that such a move to liberalise people’s movement risks stretching medical resources that are already at breaking point in trying to treat patients.
What 'breathing space' r u talking abt PM-8? U r aloof/disconnected, wt our 1 mil mark today!
— Dzulkefly Ahmad (@DrDzul) July 25, 2021
Extremely unwise, when ?? esp Klang Valley, hospitals struggling-begging 4 beds & fatigued HCWs/Frontliners & pts transferred/sent home 4 >severe Covid pts etchttps://t.co/guYo6Ts1vX
“Extremely unwise, when (Malaysia) especially Klang Valley, hospitals struggling…. begging for beds, and fatigued healthcare workers/frontliners and patients transferred or sent home (to make room) for more severe Covid-19 patients, etc.,” the Kuala Selangor MP said.
Muhyiddin had last night said that the relaxation of standard operating procedures will afford the public much-needed breathing space, following a prolonged lockdown period.
The government is currently assessing what flexibilities or privileges can be provided to those who have completed both vaccine doses, he added.
With the cumulative number of cases in the country standing at 996,393 as of yesterday afternoon, and daily cases at an all-time high (15,902 fresh cases yesterday), the country is set to pass the one million mark today.
Meanwhile, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has also called out to the government for lacking effective methods to win the fight against Covid-19.
“It is no more a likelihood but a certainty that we will break the million mark for Covid-19 cases today,” he said in a statement today.
The Iskandar Puteri MP said that Malaysia will today overtake Pakistan to be ranked 30th among countries with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases. Malaysia ranked 85th eight months ago.
As of January 11, 2021, around the time the state of emergency was announced, the nation had a cumulative total of 135,992 Covid-19 cases, he noted. It has now increased by more than seven times in the last six months to 996,393.
The cumulative Covid-19 deaths as of January was 551 but has now risen by more than 14 times to 7,902 yesterday.
“I have said that Malaysia will be set on the path to return to normalcy when we stop setting dubious records in the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Today will be no exception in setting multiple dubious records a day,” he said.
Lim pointed out that besides breaking the million mark, Malaysia is also expected to pass the 8,000 mark for Covid-19 deaths, with the current cumulative total already at 7,902, today.
Malaysia became the world’s top 10th country in daily new Covid-19 cases, as well as the top 11th country in daily Covid-19 deaths, he added.
The country also beat the United States in daily Covid-19 deaths, as the US reported 149 deaths yesterday while Malaysia reported 184.
“The time has come for the government to distance itself from the National Recovery Plan (NRP) and its blind faith in ‘total lockdowns’,” he said.
“The NRP was not the result of a ‘whole-of-society’ consultation and deliberation.
“It bears the mark of the dismal failure of strategy in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
Lim says if the newly formed National Recovery Council is to be useful, the first task is to replace the NRP with an approach that is a “whole-of-society” product, that will allow Malaysians to live with Covid-19 without destroying their livelihoods and crumbling the economy. – The Vibes, July 25, 2021
