KUCHING – With the Hari Raya holidays drawing to an end, the government must ramp up both the Covid-19 testing and vaccination among the Malaysian population.
This is in view of the plunge in the number of both tasks during the Raya holidays.
“Ramping up testing and vaccination now will help us control the spread of Covid-19 and prepare a proper exit strategy after the MCO in Peninsula Malaysia and enhanced CMCO in Sabah and Sarawak is lifted,” DAP’s Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen said in a statement.
He said statistics showed a huge drop in nationwide testing on the first day of Raya from 87,458 the previous day to 83,974 people tested on May 13.
The second day of Raya showed a further reduction to 56,440 people.
The positive rate on Day One was 5.78% while Day 2 saw a rate of 7.32% which is above the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations of below 5%.
“This clearly shows that we are not testing enough, which means that the daily numbers may not clearly reflect the actual situation. If we look at a micro-level in some areas, the statistics are even more worrying.
“For example, based on data released by the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (DMC), the positive rate on May 14 is 23.43% which is almost 5 times the recommended rate,” the MP pointed out.
Dr Yii said such trends are not new and have been observed for the past few weeks and such inadequate testing has led to a surge of severe coronavirus cases nationwide.
Testimony of this is the intensive care units (ICU) across the Klang Valley, Kelantan, Sarawak, Johor, and Penang operating at almost full capacity.
According to him, if testing and contact tracing are not ramped up, one will not know the number of carriers who are spreading the virus.
“And the longer we take to isolate them, the higher the number of people they can spread it to.”
On top of that, mass testing enables people with Covid-19 to be diagnosed, isolated, and treated early to avoid fatality.
“This is important especially with 89% of Covid-19 cases reported from April 9 to May 8 being sporadic.
“Nearly nine out of 10 Covid-19 cases in Malaysia over the past month were unlinked, which means that the virus is everywhere in the community.
“The only way to detect them is to do mass testing, quick contact tracing and isolation followed by the necessary support.
“That is why, this period of third MCO and enhanced CMCO must not be wasted.
“Testing should be the number one priority within the next few weeks, at all costs.”
The MP said the government should mass test all residents to enable early detection and treatment of cases, rather than late detection which leads to overcapacity of ICUs and a spike in Covid-19 deaths.
“Another matter of concern is the drastic drop in the vaccination rate during the Raya celebrations.
“While we understand that some of our front liners need some rest during the festivities, it is important for the government to strategise and mobilise other workforce to fill in the gap.
“However, now that the Raya celebrations are over, the country should go full force with its vaccination drive.
“With the detection of new Covid-19 variants in the country, it is even more pertinent that we speed up vaccination,” he added.
In making the call, he said the waiver would also facilitate vaccine equity, especially for poorer and less-developed countries. – The Vibes, May 16, 2021
