Is govt doing enough about Covid-19? – P Gunasegaram

‘The warning to manufacturers by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) reported over the weekend raises very serious questions on the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to reports, Miti is involved in 99 of the more than 300 Covid-19 clusters in the country. This makes the manufacturing sector the main source of Covid-19 infections. Also, Miti indicated that there would be a shutdown/strict lockdown if Covid-19 numbers did not improve...

‘First, if indeed manufacturing is the main source of infections – it is no secret that cramped living quarters are the main source of Covid-19 – why is there no public information on this? Why is the matter only between manufacturers and the government?...

‘There are other questions, too. With the rising cases and contact tracing, it should have been obvious that the hospital system would reach full capacity and be strained. Why was there not enough serious effort put in to ease the strain on hospitals? When did we know that hospitals were going to be strained? Why wait so long before we announce it and formulate measures to take care of that? Why did contact tracing break down? What do we do now? What is the alternative?...

‘And then, there is the matter of the vaccine. Why was Khairy Jamaluddin, minister of science, technology and innovation, appointed to lead our search and procurement of suitable vaccines? It should have been led by health authorities. Let’s get this right, because the success of Covid-19 containment finally depends on it. Why the seeming delay in getting our vaccine rolled out? Why is our vaccine not yet ready? Singapore has got theirs, even Ecuador and Indonesia have theirs.

‘But where is ours? Why is it later than others? Are we prepared to roll out the vaccines in time, or will it take till next year, when enough of us are inoculated? And, have all the concerns about vaccination been sufficiently addressed?’

Read here (The Vibes, Jan 26, 2021)

Taiwan’s coronavirus success, job opportunities lure foreigners to talent-thirsty island

‘Taiwan is becoming increasingly attractive for expats, with the number of foreigners obtaining residency permits and entrepreneur visas climbing in recent years. The island is tempting international professionals with its successful handling of the pandemic, its media freedoms and ‘gold card’ scheme for skilled workers.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Jan 12, 2021)

Malaysia's Top Glove fired whistleblower before virus outbreak

‘Afraid of losing his job if he complained directly to management, Khadka, 27, sent the photos to a workers’ rights campaigner in his native Nepal who sent them on to the company and the Malaysian government, without identifying who took them.

‘On Sept. 23, Top Glove sent Khadka a letter terminating his employment for sharing the photos. In the letter, seen by Reuters, the company said it identified him as the originator of the photos from CCTV coverage of workers entering the factory.

‘Fast-forward almost three months, Top Glove’s complex of factories and dormitories in Klang, 40 km (25 miles) west of Kuala Lumpur, has become Malaysia’s biggest coronavirus cluster with more than 5,000 infections, about 94% of them foreigners, the country’s health ministry said in a statement on Dec. 1.’

Read here (Reuters, Dec 13, 2020)

The second wave: How did the fight go wrong? (Singapore)

‘The government was blindsided by the spread among our foreign workers... But it needs to be pointed out that the new cases outside this group is worrying in itself. Of the record 287 new cases reported two days ago on 9 April (surpassed again yesterday), 202 were linked to foreign worker dormitories. But a large number (85 cases) were not, including 48 unlinked to existing cases. We are now fighting the virus now on not one but two raging fronts.’

COMMENT: The second front could have been opened up due to an underestimation of how effectively the virus could spread within the community especially by asymptomatic carriers

Read here (Tan Tarn How, April 11, 2020)