Congrats to Khairy on nomination as Vice President for 75th World Health Assembly – there is half a year for Malaysia to shake off the opprobrium of Malaysia as one of the worst performing states in Covid-19 pandemic

Congrats to Khairy Jamaluddin on his unanimous nomination by the Western Pacific Region (WPR) of World Health Organisation (WHO) as Vice President for the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) which will take place from May 22 to 28, 2022 in Geneva.

Khairy has now half a year to shake off the opprobrium of Malaysia as one of the worst performing states in the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is a matter of concern that the daily new Covid-19 cases has surged upwards to 6,148 cases to bring the cumulative total of 2,4489,372 and the daily Covid-19 deaths remain on the high side with 98 deaths with 32 Brought-in-Dead, taking the cumulative total of Covid-19 deaths to 28,674 deaths.

At present, Malaysia is ranked No. 20 among nations with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases but the country with the least population. Leading the pack is United States with a population of 333 million with 46.5 million Covid-19 cases; India Number Two with a population of 1.4 billion with 34 million Covid-19 cases; Brazil Number Three with a population of 215 million with 21.7 million Covid-19 cases; United Kingdom No. 4 with 68 million population with 8.9 million Covid-19 cases and Russia No. 5 with a population of 146 million with 8.4 million Covid-19 cases.

But our daily Covid-19 deaths yesterday placed Malaysia as the world’s Top 15th nation for daily Covid-19 deaths, even more than Indonesia, which recorded 29 deaths, Vietnam 54 deaths, Japan 14 deaths, South Korea nine deaths.

The surge in Covid-19 cases and the high rate of Covid-19 deaths are matters of concern when the country is opening up to revive the economy and with the Election Commission setting Nov. 8 and 20 as Nomination and Polling Days for the Malacca state general election.

The Health Ministry and the Election Commission should consult with all interested parties on the SOPs to be applied to strike a proper balance between reviving the economy and conducting a free, fair and clean general election with the objective of winning the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.