Covid-19: Medical experts call on govt to implement a more targeted MCO to prevent fourth wave of infections

‘The government has been urged to implement a more targeted movement control order (MCO) with mass targeted testing to prevent a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections. The Health and Sciences Covid-19 Advisory Group of Experts (EAG) said the government should prioritise mitigating the spread of the virus as it was no longer realistic to try and get infection rates down to zero. 

‘It said all resources must be focused on enhancing the implementation of targeted MCOs. It recommended that all MCO areas must fully employ the digitised find, test, trace, isolation, and support (FTTIS) system, which includes the proposed targeted mass testing strategy. "A highly targeted MCO will minimise economic disruption, on top of reducing the spread of Covid-19, balancing the wellbeing of both lives and livelihoods.

"State and district health authorities must be empowered to work with external experts and determine clear and transparent thresholds for when an area should be placed under MCO. The thresholds should be defined according to population density, number of cases, and geo-characteristics of the area, and communicated clearly to the public," it said in a statement on Sunday (April 25).

‘EAG comprises representatives from the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, Malaysian Medical Association, Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association, and the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia, as well as two distinguished members of the medical fraternity. It is chaired by former director-general of Health and International Medical University chairman Tan Sri Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman.’

Read here (The Star, Apr 25, 2021)

Covid-19: Only 0.11% of 300,000 vaccine recipients so far are govt officials, elected reps, says Khairy

‘Only 0.11% of the 300,000 Covid-19 vaccine recipients in Malaysia so far are government officials and elected representatives, says Khairy Jamaluddin. The coordinating minister of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme said the 0.11% constituted 302 people, while the rest are mostly healthcare workers.

“Based on the breakdown of the 292,104 people who have been vaccinated as of March 13, they comprise 23.86% nurses, 22.23% doctors and 23.4% other healthcare workers such as medical assistants, X-ray specialists and ambulance drivers. Another 21.33% are frontline workers from the armed forces, police, civil defence force, Rela (people’s volunteer corps) and Customs officers, among others. Another 5.62% are dentists while 3.45% are pharmacists.”

Read here (The Star, Mar 15, 2021)

Pharmaniaga, Duopharma to supply 18.4m doses of vaccines

‘Malaysia has secured deals to acquire 18.4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines through Pharmaniaga Bhd and Duopharma Biotech Bhd. In separate announcements, Pharmaniaga said it would be supplying 12 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines developed by China’s Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd, while Duopharma said it would supply 6.4 million doses of Sputnik V developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute to the government.

‘Both companies yesterday said they had entered into a term sheet agreements to supply the Covid-19 vaccines to the Health Ministry. Pharmaniaga said it would begin manufacturing Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines in February and will deliver the bottled vaccines to identified hospitals and other healthcare facilities nationwide by April 2021.

Read here (The Star, Jan 27, 2021) 

Dr Noor Hisham: Controlling large scale community transmission is top priority. At R0 of 2.2, 4,500 cases daily by Oct 31

"Controlling the large scale community transmission is our top priority. We need strong solidarity and unity, together we can better fight this common enemy," he said on his Twitter post on Tuesday (Oct 6). 

‘Separately, Dr Noor Hisham also posted a graph projecting the course of Covid-19 cases with an infectivity rate (R0 value) of 0.3, 1.5, and 2.2. With the R0 value of 0.3, it is estimated that cases will taper down to below 500 cases by Oct 31. However, with an R0 of 1.5 and 2.2, it is projected that the number of cases will rise to more than 1,000 and 4,500 cases, respectively, by Oct 31.’

Read here (The Star, Oct 6, 2020)

Seamen struck by cruel waves of Covid-19

‘During this Covid-19 pandemic, the performance of healthcare workers, the police, soldiers and e-hailing drivers has been really outstanding. The people appreciate their sacrifices and would always remember their courage for standing at the front lines in the fight against the pandemic. But there is another group of people who have also been working tirelessly, moving cargo safely from one country to another while people stayed at home to stay safe. Sadly, not many people are aware of their plight. That’s because we are at sea. That’s right, there are thousands of sailors stranded onboard vessels now.’

Read here (The Star, June 25, 2020)

No new virus sufferers, 300 asymptomatic, after Wuhan-wide tests

‘The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak began, has found no new cases of people suffering from Covid-19 (coronavirus) after testing almost its entire population, and 300 asymptomatic carriers of the virus, officials said on Tuesday (June 2). Authorities launched the vast testing campaign on May 14, and reached 9.9 million out of 11 million people, after a cluster of new cases raised fears of a second wave of infections.’

Read here (The Star, June 2, 2020)

Do not discriminate against migrant workers, Health DG warns

‘With Covid-19 infection clusters emerging in three immigration detention centres, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has said that negative sentiments against detainees must not be amplified and must not be a catalyst for discrimination in saving lives. The Health director-general said that the whole of government and whole community approach should work together to fight the virus.’

Read here (The Star, May 25, 2020)

Scientists in China believe new drug can stop Covid-19 ‘without vaccine’

‘A Chinese laboratory has been developing a drug it believes has the power to bring the coronavirus pandemic to a halt. A drug being tested by scientists at China's prestigious Peking University could not only shorten the recovery time for those infected, but even offer short-term immunity from the virus, researchers say. Sunney Xie, director of the university's Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Genomics, told AFP that the drug has been successful at the animal testing stage.’

Read here (The Star, May 19, 2020)

The Covid-19 Chronicles: The changes we should aim to keep

‘...There are appreciable changes on a societal scale that we can maintain beyond Covid-19... First is the recognition of frontliners, health professionals and experts... The second are the transdisciplinary approaches i.e. all onboard problem solving that has become the necessary norm in dealing with Covid-19... Finally, the collaboration boom would not be possible without the unfettered use of the Internet for facilitating communications and processes.’

Read here (The Star, May 17, 2020)

Experts differ over states’ CMCO non-compliance

‘Law experts differ on the refusal of some states to implement the conditional movement control order (conditional MCO) based on various interpretations of Article 81 of the Federal Constitution.

‘While lawyer Derek Fernandez said the states have a constitutional obligation to follow what has been gazetted as law by the Federal Government (if the states have yet to have their own laws on Covid-19), former judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said it is not so simple.’

Read here (The Star, May 6, 2020)

Chow: No feedback was collected from the states on CMCO

‘No feedback was collected from the states on how the conditional movement control order (MCO) and standard operating procedure (SOP) should be done, the Penang Chief Minister has claimed. Chow Kon Yeow said as a result, the state government decided not to allow businesses to resume operations yesterday.’

Read here (The Star, May 5, 2020)

MITI urges state governments to follow Putrajaya's decision to relax the MCO

‘The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) today urged state governments to cooperate with the federal government's decision to implement the Conditional Movement Control Order or CMCO that allows almost all sectors of the economy to resume operations after almost two months of suspension under the MCO.

‘Failure to do so may result in the state governments facing the possibility of legal action from various parties, particularly industry players, Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali cautioned in a statement today.

‘As it is, Mohamed Azmin said various industry associations, including the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the Malay Chamber of Commerce of Malaysia, have issued statements calling for state governments not to stop companies from resuming their operations from today, the first day of the CMCO.’

Read here (The Edge, May 4, 2020)

MMA: Public now the ‘frontliners’ in Covid-19 fight

‘Members of the public will now play the most important role in combating the Covid-19 pandemic, says the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA). Its president Dr N. Ganabaskaran said with the announcement of the conditional movement control order (MCO) by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the public must remain vigilant as the health crisis continues.

“As most businesses will resume operations on Monday (May 4), the public will now play the most important role in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic... The general public must now take on the role as frontliners, in battling the pandemic in public places by being disciplined in observing social distancing, personal hygiene and comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) at all times or we can easily slip back into the ‘old norm’.’’

Read here (The Star, May 1, 2020)

Malaysia almost reaching target test capacity of 16,500 samples per day, says Health DG

‘Malaysia is edging closer towards its aim of conducting 16,500 Covid-19 tests in a day, says the Health Ministry. Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the country managed to test 13,614 samples on Thursday (April 23) alone.

“We are also looking to optimise our labs with the installation of automated testing devices from the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI). This will increase our testing capacity... The BGI automated testing device at IMR will increase our testing capacity by another 5,000 a day, while in Sabah, it would give us another 1,000 tests in a day.”

Read here (The Star, April 24, 2020)

Our front-liners deserve better

Suddenly, as we need them most, we see cracks in a system that ought to take care of them more than ever... Letter to The Star describes the ‘bitter truth for medical staff claiming allowance’.

Read here (The Star, April 17, 2020)

The Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC), representing 44 member societies and 16 individuals, calls for four measures to effect a rationalised opening-up

They are (please look at letter for full text}:

1. Decision-making on a phased restart that includes MOH, other relevant ministries or agencies and relevant medical health experts.
2. An exit strategy for the post-MCO period based on the advice of medical health and public health experts with guidelines according to the colour-coded zoning system: green, yellow and red.
3. Large-scale disinfection and sanitisation efforts that follow evidence-based procedures.
4. Work with religious authorities to adapt upcoming religious and cultural traditions to prevent mass gatherings that would further spread Covid-19.

Read here (The Star, April 17, 2020)

Sound advice from a USM medical microbiologist

Besides giving three important points on Covid-19, she said: ‘We know that besides our fallibility from threats like infectious disease, nothing else is certain. But uncertainty is a familiar friend in science and the quest for truth. And as the great physicist Richard Feynman said, “What is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth.” Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. There is inevitably pain in uncertainty, and it is unsettling. But instead of suffering, we can choose to view uncertainty with hope. For as long as we acknowledge that we do not know for certain, we can try and find out. That is the scientific truth.’

Read here (The Star, April 12, 2020)

Malaysia's response to Covid-19 ranked fourth strictest in South East Asia

‘Malaysia's Covid-19 response is the fourth strictest among South-East Asian countries as of Friday, according to the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government. Malaysia is ranked fourth in Asean after Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines.

‘A higher position in the Stringency Index, however, does not necessarily mean that a country's response is “better” than others lower on the index, according to the Blavatnik School of Government.

‘The score is based on measurements of seven response indicators. They include policies such as school and workplace closures, travel bans, public event cancellations, public transport closures, public information campaigns and movement restrictions. Other six measures gauged by the tracker include fiscal or monetary measures, investment in vaccines, Covid-19 testing framework and contact tracing measures.’

Read here (The Star, April 12, 2020)

‘Rethink healthcare for migrant workers’

‘The government needs to rethink its healthcare policies towards undocumented migrant workers as the current policy drives them underground and made contact tracing and quarantine difficult for management of outbreaks, said epidemiologist Dr Chan Chee Khoon. He said Malaysia could not ignore its large pool of undocumented migrant workers as long as contact tracing (those who have come in close contact with those who have been tested positive with Covid-19) and quarantine remained as tools for managing the outbreak.

“The Health Ministry and Home Ministry need to rethink their policies towards undocumented migrant workers, which currently drive them underground rather than encourage them to come forth to seek treatment when afflicted with infectious and other ailments. It would be extremely difficult to carry out contact tracing when undocumented migrant workers have strong incentives to avoid contact with government agencies, ” he said.

Read here (The Star, Mar 3, 2020)

Pandemic rules and the law: Shad Saleem Faruqi

‘Those in positions of authority must also remain cognisant of the rule of law dimension. Power is not inherent. It must be derived from the law and its exercise must remain within the four corners of the enabling legislation.

‘From the rule-of-law point of view, an executive order, policy, directive, instruction or scheme does not amount to ‘law’ (and thereby require obedience) simply because of expediency, workability or reasonableness. It must be anchored in and derived from legislation or subsidiary legislation.‘

Read here (The Star, March 26, 2020)