Warning bells should be sounding that we are on the wrong track in the war against Covid-19 pandemic as a week after the new government, we are not only having more daily new Covid-19 cases than Indonesia, we are having more daily Covid-19 deaths than India
Warning signals should be sounding that we are on the wrong track in the war against Covid-19 pandemic as a week after the new government, as we are not only having more daily new Covid-19 cases than Indonesia, we are having more daily Covid-19 deaths than India.
Indonesia has more than eight times the population of Malaysia, yet for nineteen consecutive days, Malaysia is having more daily Covid-19 cases than Malaysia. Yesterday, we had 20,396 Covid-19 cases and Indonesia has 5,403 cases – about a quarter of that of Malaysia.
What is completely unacceptable is that we are also losing out to India in daily Covid-19 deaths. India as over 42 times’ population that of Malaysia, yet for the second day, there are more daily Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia than in India?
Yesterday, there were 336 Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia but India had 218 Covid-19 deaths. The day before, 363 people in Malaysia died of Covid-19 but India’s daily toll was 120.
On May 6, India reached its peak of daily Covid-19 deaths when 414,422 people died of the new coronavirus that day. Now, it has been reduced to 217 deaths, which is 0.05% of its peak of 414,422 Covid-19 deaths.
Malaysia reached its peak of daily Covid-19 fatality with 393 Covid-19 deaths on 26th August and since then we have been ranging between 249 to 363 daily Covid-19 deaths, uncertain whether we are to reach new peak or begin a descent of daily Covid-19 deaths.
Why are we doing so poorly in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic, even losing out to Indonesia and India.
Our World in Data website documented that for September 4, 2021, the total Covid-19 cases per million population for the three countries are: Indonesia 14,921.08, India 23,674.79 and Malaysia 55,663.54. The daily Covid-19 cases per million population were: Indonesia 24.34, India 30.69 and Malaysia 581.43.
Data for Covid-19 deaths per million population are no better. For total Covid-19 deaths per million population, the data are Indonesia 490.19, India 316.15 and Malaysia 545.61. For daily Covid-19 deaths per million population, the data are Indonesia 1.95; India 0.22 and Malaysia 11.04.
The new Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin should convene a urgent meeting of experts in the public and private health sectors over the high Covid-19 death rates, especially Brought-in-Dead cases, which reached a peak of 107 out of 336 Covid-19 deaths yesterday.
This is the fourth day that Malaysia has recorded triple-digit figures for Brought-in-Dead Covid-19 deaths and this trend should be halted immediately.
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.