KOTA KINABALU – It is high time that Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) realises its move to abolish the health portfolio in the state cabinet is wrong, said a DAP lawmaker, following a record-high 3,376 Covid-19 cases in the state today.
Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin in a statement today said this is the first time that Sabah breached 3,000 daily cases, adding that the state is in deep trouble.
“They are wrong to outsource all the work to the Health Ministry. This is on top of the failure of the Perikatan Nasional government to ensure adequate and on-time vaccine supply to Sabah.”
Under Warisan (May 2018 to September 2020), Sabah had established the health and people’s well-being portfolio, of which Sabah DAP acting chairman Datuk Frankie Poon was minister.
Chan said the slow vaccination rate in the state will lead to more Categories 3 to 5 cases, adding that its healthcare system will not be able to cope.
“The surge in Covid-19 cases started because the GRS government took things too lightly. Passiveness kills. It is time for GRS to wake up and smell the coffee,” he said, adding that the coalition must accept that it has failed miserably.
Chan said Sabah needs its own health minister – not just a Covid-19 spokesman – who is capable of taking “drastic actions” for the people.
As of yesterday, the Covid-19 hospital bed capacity in the state stands at 92%, with 1,343 patients occupying 1,457 available beds.
A total of 30.1% of the adult population in the state are fully vaccinated, and 52.4% have received first doses. – The Vibes, August 24, 2021
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