Release of red, orange, yellow and green zones on Covid-19 infections based on active cases and not just cumulative data most welcome and meaningful as it will enable residents to strive for their districts to become Covid-19-free green zones

I welcome the release by the Health Ministry of the division of the country into red, orange, yellow and green zones on Covid-19 infections based on active cases and not just based on cumulative data as it is more meaningful and enable residents to strive for their districts to become Covid-19-free green zones.

According to the updated data released by the Health Ministry today, there are 16 red zones based on active case as compared to 29 red zones based on cumulative data.

Instead of three green zones in Peninsular Malaysia based on cumulative data, there are 19 green zones in Peninsular Malaysia, 17 green zones in Sarawak and 11 green zones in Sabah using the active case classification.

Yesterday, it was reported that Kulai had become the 29th Covid-19 red zone with 45 cumulative cases. But based on active case classification, it is an orange zone with 23 active cases.

Based on the data of active cases released today, there are four states without red zones, namely Penang, Perlis, Kedah and Terrengganu. It is to be seen which one of these four states become the first “green” state in Malaysia completely free from a single active case of Covid-19 infection.

Former Health Minister Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad is on solid ground when he said that the Sheraton Move had previously hijacked the fight against Covid-19, leading to the judgment of Malaysian economist and former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General K.S. Jomo at a recent online dialogue that Malaysia lost three weeks in its battle against Covid-19 due to a political vacuum brought by a political crisis in late February.

It is pathetic to see the “warm water” Health Minister trying to distort history in explaining the cause of the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, which Malaysia would have been spared if not for the Sheraton Move, but it is equally shocking that the Health Minister was not only prepared to distort history, he was even prepared to alter geography claiming that there are 500 nations in the world!

Dzulkefly is right – this is not the time to find blame for the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak but to unite Malaysians to win the multiple invisible wars against the Covid-19 pandemic, especially to work out the best exit plan strategy and blueprint.