#kerajaangagal5 – Seventh Day with over 2,000 Covid-19 cases

Malaysia recorded 2,340 Covid-19 cases yesterday – the seventh straight day it has logged more than 2,000 cases, bringing the cumulative total tally to 381,813 cases.

We are ranked No. 44 among countries in the world with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, and poised to overtake Bulgaria, which is ranked No. 43 with 392,913 cases and Saudi Arabia which is ranked No. 42 with 408,038 cases.

But only 1.4% of Malaysia’s population have been fully vaccinated, as compared to 55.2% in Israel, 33% in Bahrain, 29.2% in Russia, 26.4% in the United States, 16.1% in UK – and we are behind some 75 countries with regard to the percentage of the population who are fully vaccinated.

This should the priority concern of the Health Minister, the Cabinet and the Prime Minister.

Yet we have a Health Minister who is more preoccupied with semantics, arguing that there will be no fourth Covid-19 wave in Malaysia unless the third Covid-19 wave (probably the longest Covid-19 wave in the world) has reduced the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases to zero when Malaysians are worried that Malaysia will be hit by a fourth Covid-19 wave before the third Covid-19 wave could be brought under control.

And yesterday, the Cabinet met with no announcement of measures to prevent the country from being hit by a fourth Covid-19 wave while one epidemiologist had warned that Malaysia may face 50,000 active cases and beyond by Hari Raya Aidilfitri in mid-May.

Clearly, the Prime Minister was wrong to declare an emergency and to suspend Parliament when he should have spearheaded an all-party and full national mobilisation of Malaysians in an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” strategy and approach, through Parliament and the State Assemblies, in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

I call on the Prime Minister to reverse course and to advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong to end the emergency and to convene Parliament and the State Assemblies to launch an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” strategy and approach in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.