By Sheriffah Noor Khamseah Al-Idid
MALAYSIA has been experiencing spikes in new cases, deaths and hospitalisations which are soaring toward the record heights that were seen at the start of 2021 and this increasing trend is raising grave concerns, stress, anxiety and worry to Malaysians.
In January 2021, Ministry of Health (MOH) director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah posted on Twitter two of the ministry’s Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Removed (SEIR) model projections up to May 31, applying R0 infection rates (R0, pronounced R naught) at 1.1 and 1.2.
However, Malaysia breached the 3,000 mark on a number of occasions in the last few months, thus exceeding the projections of the MOH.
At the opening of the World Health Organisation’s annual assembly of member states on May 24, 2021, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had urged recognition of the fact that “we are at war with a virus” and had called for countries to apply ‘wartime logic’ to fight the coronavirus that has killed 3.4 million people.
As Malaysia continues to experience the surge in the number of cases and deaths, it therefore becomes imperative for the Government to reflect upon whether the current strategy and response is the right prescription for success.
To win this war, it is vital that Malaysia applies the relevant wartime logic. A military strategist will apply military power including military forces, territory, and resources to fight a major land, sea and air war and strategise on how to apply force to mobilise.
Similarly, it is critical for the Government to recognise COVID-19 as a public health crisis and accord priority to the MOH and its team of experts to develop relevant strategies to fight this pandemic.
The danger of maintaining this relatively less restrictive MCO may see the nation in a permanent lockdown which will ultimately further worsen the nation’s health, social, economic, business, and financial crisis.
As it is during wartime, it is critical that the military resources, supplies, equipment and weapons must be adequate and in good conditions.
Presently it has been reported that our frontliners are working long hours and many are facing burnout, hospital beds are nearly fully occupied, and oxygen may be insufficient. This paints a grim situation of the nation’s health system which may be overwhelmed any time soon.
Meanwhile, the rakyat’s stress, despair and desperation stemming from prolonged lockdown and isolation from family and friends is causing stress and mental illnesses and resulting in social crises including domestic violence and the tragic cases of suicides.
Thus it is urgent that a new strategy must be in place including instituting a full and not a partial nation lockdown, and to close non-essential businesses just for a targeted period of time to ensure that the number of cases and deaths can be reduced significantly.
This is for the Government to be able to end the lockdown soon to facilitate a better quality of life for citizens including frontliners, and improved conditions for businesses.
With this new prescription for success, Malaysia will have a better chance to emerge victorious over this catastrophic pandemic. – July 5, 2021.
Sheriffah Noor Khamseah Al-Idid is a former special officer to the First Science Advisor to Malaysia’s Prime Minister and alumna of Imperial College, University of London, United Kingdom.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
