Is Malaysia facing a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic before we could bring the third wave (which started in September last year) under control, by reducing the daily increase of new cases to double-digit figures as in August last year?
Malaysia reported an increase of 2,148 new Covid-19 cases yesterday – the highest in 41 days.
Is Malaysia facing a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic before we could bring the third wave (which started in September last year) under control by reducing the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases to double-digit figures as in August last year?
If so, then the declaration of emergency and the suspension of Parliament on 12th January 2021 purportedly to combat a rise in Covid-19 cases has failed on two grounds:
- lack of constitutional scrutiny and check-and-balance of the Executive by Parliament to ensure an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” strategy and approach in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic; and
- kakistocracy of the backdoor and illegitimate government in combating the Covid-19 pandemic.
In fact, a powerful case can be made that if the Pakatan Harapan government had not been toppled by the Sheraton Move conspiracy, Malaysia would have been spared both the second and third waves of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the disastrous economic, educational and national impact of the pandemic from the MCO and national lockdowns and the various modifications of the movement control orders.
Clearly, there must be a new Health Minister.
Malaysia is already having one of longest waves of Covid-19 pandemic in the world.
At the Iskandar Puteri Covid-19 Vaccine Registration Centre in Gelang Patah on April 2, I had asked two questions which are still very relevant today:
Firstly, whether Malaysia could breach the triple-digit figure to fall to double-digit figure in April itself; and
Secondly, whether Malaysia can prevent the upsurge of a fourth wave before bringing the third Covid wave fully under control.
But instead of breaching the triple-digit figure to fall to double-digit figure in this month, we had yesterday breached the 2,000-mark to reach new heights of daily increase of Covid-19 cases!
The East Asia and Pacific region is one of the few global bright spots in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic unlike the disastrous performance of United States and the European nations, and such a success provides many lessons on containing infectious diseases at a low cost to the economy in an era of chronic pandemics.
But Malaysia is the exception as we have performed dismally compared to many countries in the region.
The latest monthly report of the Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking on March 25 again showed Malaysia as trailing behind Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Vietnam in our performance as a nation in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Emergency Proclamation and the suspension of Parliament are decisions which are not science-based but politics-based purportedly to combat Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia.
In view of the possibility of a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic before the third wave is brought under control, I call on the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to respond positively to the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s Ramadan call and advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong to convene Parliament with the specific agenda on the Covid-19 pandemic on how to better deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.