The Covid-19 pandemic statistics in the first week of the Sabri Ismail Cabinet are still grim and bleak

The Covid-19 pandemic statistics in the first week of the Sabri Ismail Cabinet are still grim and bleak.

Yesterday, there were 362 Covid-19 deaths, the second highest since the 393 Covid-19 deaths reported on 26th August and we set a new record of Brought-in-Dead (BID) cases with 104 BID Covid-19 deaths yesterday.

In the last ten days, there were four days where we had daily Covid-19 deaths exceeding 300 ranging from 330 to 393 Covid-19 deaths while the other six days ranged from 249 to 295 Covid-19 deaths.

This is an inordinately high fatality rate and I am glad that the new Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin has said that among his priorities in his First Hundred Days are to bring down the number of serious Covid-19 cases and Brought-in-Dead (BID) cases.

But Malaysians would expect results not after Khairy’s Hundred Days in early December but see a downward curve in Covid-19 deaths latest by the end of this month, as Malaysia cannot afford to lose another 20,000 lives in the Hundred Days to the new coronavirus – as in August alone, over 7,600 people died because of Covid-19.

BID Covid-19 deaths must be a top priority concern for it has reached triple-digit figures.

A high-level expert task force from both the public and private health sector should be formed to resolve both the problem of high Covid-19 death rate and the high BID Covid-19 death cases.

Khairy had promised to be transparent and to provide more detailed Covid-19 data to the public.

He can start by giving a state-by-state breakdown of the daily BID Covid-19 death cases and to target the reduction of BID cases to daily single-digit figures by the end of his First Hundred Days as the new Health Minister.

Khairy should consider getting the co-operation of the armed forces to build field hospitals in states where there is a high number of Covid-19 deaths and BID Covid-19 deaths, such as Selangor, Johore, Penang and Sabah.

Khairy should also explain why the national immunisation rollout is slowing down, as in the last week, the daily vaccination dosage is below 400,000 doses although it reached half-a-million doses for a few days in August.

In fact, on 31st August, it went as low as 261,768 doses of vaccine.

Is this because we are running out of vaccines although the government repeatedly say we have bought more than enough vaccines?