GEORGE TOWN – Penang-born David Benjamin Lim has created a mathematical model that may help Malaysia counter its worsening Covid-19 numbers.
The Stanford University mathematics graduate said he hopes this free model will be used by the Health Ministry, Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, and state governments.
The code that can be applied to all states nationwide is available on Github.
Even with the power given to each state to move from Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) to the next, Lim believes it is rigid and poorly thought out.
Hence, he suggested that decisions be made at the district-level instead.
After toiling for 60 hours over five days to come up with the code, he decided to make it available at no cost, so the government can adopt his method and programme.
He hopes that the federal government will use it in their decision-making process to win the war against Covid-19, and help the suffering economic sectors.
Lim’s model incorporates the use of both the daily new cases and infectivity rate as the base criterion for the reopening of each district.
With more information about available intensive care unit beds, he said he could come up with a more accurate model that will support the NRP.
“These numbers are below 4,000, 2,000 and 500 in the three NRP phases – we do not know where they come from.
“This one-size-fits-all numbers are unfair to many locations. When they announced the 4,000 threshold, they were mostly from Selangor.
“Perak is such a huge state, where many districts have no cases. However, all are punished because of an arbitrary number.
“Averaged numbers are dangerous when you have an outlier, which, in this case, is Selangor.”
To establish the model, Lim had to collect data, including on Covid-19 numbers, which he obtained with help from Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin’s office.
“During this project, we found that data sharing and transparency is a real issue in Malaysia.
“We had great difficulty getting granular data, and often, there is no cooperation from government departments.
“We would like to urge the government to improve data sharing and transparency to enable effective management of the pandemic situation.
“This situation must change for Malaysia to successfully move through the fourth industrial revolution.
“We could get more granular data from the United States regarding Covid-19 numbers than in Malaysia. This is nonsense.
“We don’t have a personal agenda. We just want to help. Why are (they) so afraid to share data?”
With the available data shared by Penang Lawan Covid-19’s Facebook page, Lim’s team managed to plot a moving graph that clearly shows where each district is in terms of infectivity rate and number of cases.
Sim is planning to present this to Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and the exco line-up to enable them to use this method to decide on what is next for the state.
“I would also like to discuss this with both Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba. This is a free offer for them.” – The Vibes, July 12, 2021
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