Truly a grim July

After more than a month, we are still in Phase One of the National Recovery Plan, but the Covid-19 numbers are not going down.

AS our politicians bicker and play power games, the country is in the throes of an unmitigated disaster.

There’s just no sugar-coating this. Covid-19 numbers have not dropped, especially in the Klang Valley, our healthcare is at a breaking point and businesses have either shut or are on the verge of closing.

Even eternal optimists sometimes crack. You can’t fault someone who has the brightest demeanour from experiencing a dark cloud now and then. Especially now, when we’re still in the midst of a 16-month nightmare.

If, like many others, you’ve lost your job and are struggling to put food on the table for your family, the last thing you want to be worrying about is who takes over the government or who becomes our new prime minister.

Because, whatever your political persuasion, there’s no denying the fact that there’s a major trust deficit in the government. And this isn’t about to change even if we have a new one in the next few days.

The anger on the ground is palpable. Every state in the country has been in some form of lockdown for almost two months now. So, where have we gone wrong?

As early as February, the Ministry of Health had already predicted that our health system would be bursting at the seams in the event of another spike in cases.

But we failed to heed the warning signs.

The government perhaps with a view of doing the “popular” thing but not the right thing, allowed social gatherings and bazaars to open, they allowed interstate travel, and as a result, we let our guard down.

Belatedly, when these measures were clearly not working, the authorities then decided on a lockdown. Too little, too late.

Our reactionary measures have thus far proved futile in the face of a cunning enemy that continues to morph and evolve into deadlier and more contagious strains.

The one glimmer of hope and probably the only thing that we have got right at this juncture, is our vaccination programme.

Having breached the 350,000 daily vaccination barrier and surpassed 10 million jabs, we could be seeing 20 million of our population inoculated with at least one dose within 30 days.

Does that mean that we’re out of the woods? Of course not. Being fully vaccinated with two doses won’t stop you from getting Covid-19 and it also won’t prevent you from being a carrier.

But as President Joe Biden rightly pointed out, in the United States, the overwhelming number of patients who are hospitalised have not been vaccinated.

Real world data and not some quack website will show that vaccines do immunise the population. The more of us who are vaccinated, the less dangerous the virus will become.

What we need now is to push forward with our National Immunisation Programme. And not just to completely inoculate 80% of our population, we need to think of getting booster shots to those who have already had their second doses, within at least six months.

The economy needs to open up to prevent a complete collapse of the country, but at the same time we need to be aware of highly contagious variants of the pandemic such as the Delta and Lambda mutations. Booster shots that can combat or at least limit the impact of these strains should already be in the pipeline.

Data also indicates that manufacturing and industrial clusters contribute a high percentage of positive cases.

This situation is of course exacerbated by the close confines of workers’ quarters.

These workplace clusters have to be a priority now for the government, inoculate foreign workers, even if they are undocumented. And if necessary, use the private general practitioners (GPs) for this purpose.

In April, the government announced that Protect Health Corporation will work with some 5,000 GPs to inoculate 150,000 people daily.

The majority of these GPs have registered but the rollout is stuttering as the authorities focus on mega vaccination centres instead.

For now, our strategy for the Klang Valley needs a rethink. If by the end of the current lockdown on July 16, our numbers have not dropped significantly, the government will have to think long and hard about a further two-week extension.

But that has to be the absolute limit, because our manufacturing and economic heartland needs to reopen.

A more practical solution would be targeted or localised enhanced MCO in areas with high numbers. This has to be a total lockdown initiative but also one that allows other less affected areas to remain open.

As our vaccination rate continues to increase, our testing should continue unabated.

The logistics involved in mass testing actually hinders other, equally important medical work, but the news of the imminent availability of a self-test kit could change all that.

Studies conducted by the Medical Research Institute found that two self-test devices that use saliva for Covid-19 screening have sensitivity levels of above 90%.

These self test-kits that allow testing to be done at home would reduce logistical issues and allow people to self-quarantine if necessary.

Malaysia faces tough choices in the next few days and weeks. The situation in the country is grim. The choices we make, be it to extend or exit lockdown or to make changes at the policy-making level, could have far-reaching consequences.