COVID-19: We’re failing, revamp National Security Council

AS the rate of COVID-19 infections show no signs of slowing down, two rivals came together and urged the Government to admit that its current methods are failing and a new approach is needed to stem the pandemic.

“The Prime Minister must revamp the National Security Council (NSC) which has failed to come up with right policies to stem the pandemic. There is nothing shameful about acknowledging our shortcomings.

“Fill the NSC with experts. We don’t need too many police, military and self-serving politicians calling the shots. If poorer nations are doing better in managing COVID-19, its means we are failing and the people in charge are not up to the task,” said former Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in a Facebook post.

Yesterday, Malaysia recorded an alarming 4,498 new infections, with 22 deaths and counting. Selangor reported the highest number of infections, as usual, at 1,424.

It is also important to note that both public and private healthcare facilities are now operating in almost full-capacity, trying to accommodate both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients.

Elaborating, Zaid said that the Government should reassess itself on why it was failing to contain the pandemic, despite having enough resources and professionals working on the matter.

Citing examples, he said that Bangladesh has 180 million people but only records between 2,000 and 3,000 new infections daily.

People fuming for the right reasons

“Our neighbour, Thailand has a 68 million population but they only report an average of 2,000 infections daily. Plus, they test about 150 people for every one COVID-19 positive case. How many testings have we done so far?

“In terms of vaccination, Albania, a nation much poorer than us, has vaccinated almost 30% of its population. Our neighbour Singapore has vaccinated almost three million of its people.

“With all that, can you blame Malaysians for being enraged? How are we to have confidence and praise our leaders when they are faltering?” he asked.

Zaid added that it defies logic for the Government to allow the construction sector to continue operating when data shows that COVID-19 clusters start there.

“But the Government disallows dine-ins at restaurants but allow constructions to continue. And why are Ramadan bazaars allowed to operate as usual? NSC must work based on scientific data.

“Not only that, state governments are allowing places of worship to continue operating. Look, this is a public health issue, not religious one. Putrajaya must be courageous to make the right policies if they want to stem the pandemic.

“By the way, it’s not enough for the Government to just penalise former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for breaching standard operating procedure (SOP). What about other ministers and our own prime minister’s indiscretions?” he asked.

Echoing Zaid’s sentiments, Najib said that the Government must revise its methods as its existing COVID-19 policies are not helping the situation.

“Things are getting more critical since the Emergency was declared to combat the pandemic. We now have 296,433 infections cases, with 1,081 deaths and 1,154 clusters,” the Pekan MP remarked. – May 8, 2021.

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