As Malaysia exceeds the 1 million cumulative COVID-19 cases today, we must abandon the old and adopt a new approach to transition to a new normal that can save lives and livelihood, by moving away from containment and total lockdowns to eliminate COVID-19 or zero COVID-19 goal, to a new policy of mitigation and targeted lockdown accepting that we have to adapt to live with COVID-19 whilst minimising the adverse economic consequences.
Yesterday, Malaysia notched another record with 15,902 positive COVID-19 cases out of 155,193 test samples, giving a positivity rate of 10.25%.
For the week ending 24 July 2021, there was a daily average 12,935 positive COVID-19 cases detected out of 123,810 test samples, with an average positivity rate of 10.45%. This represents a continued deterioration from the prior week ending 17 July, with a daily average of 11,237 positive cases out of 120,165 test samples, and an average positivity rate of 9.35%.
The infection rate showed no signs of receding, alongside a positivity rate that remains well above the WHO’s 5% threshold. More worryingly, the daily death rate also hovers at or near record highs, reaching a 7-day average of 133.9 on 21 July. Adjusted for population, Malaysia now ranks 22nd in the world in terms of daily confirmed COVID-19 deaths at 4.14 per million people, far exceeding the G20 and ASEAN averages.
The above represents an irrefutable and damning testament of a government who has failed miserably in reigning the pandemic under control.
The dismal status also reflects the failure and diminishing effectiveness of multiple sweeping lockdown policies. While the first Movement Control Order (MCO 1.0) initiated March 2020 was to enhance capacities of the country’s public healthcare infrastructure, extensions and subsequent lockdowns were conducted with the misguided belief that virus transmissions could be eliminated entirely by movement restrictions alone. These intermittent lockdowns have now proven ineffective, especially once the virus has achieved a certain critical mass in the community.
The healthcare system has been stretched to its limit, with insufficient capacity forcing COVID-19 patients to be treated on the floor or in corridors of some hospitals.
The DAP takes no pleasure in making these assertions against the PN government as ultimately it is the rakyat who are suffering from the crippling economic lockdowns and worsening pandemic.
The DAP is ready to play our part of the “Whole of Society, All of Government” campaign to ensure Malaysians can successfully transition to the ‘new normal’ by ‘Living with COVID-19’. The nation must recover from the disastrous management of the pandemic that has resulted in record-breaking infection and death rates we are experiencing today.
Today we would like to put forth our policy position paper on “Gearing Malaysia Towards Living With COVID-19” to take the country forward.
It is now clear that any attempts to eradicate the virus altogether from the country will be an act of futility. The virus is expected to coexist within the community in the long haul, especially with the existence and increasing dominance of mutating COVID-19 variants.
In line with global developments, the DAP proposes a paradigm shift away from the pandemic management aim of “Zero COVID-19” and total lockdowns to one of “Living with COVID-19” and targeted lockdowns. For example, we have to recognise a situation with 25,000 COVID-19 positive cases with no ICU patients or deaths, is a far better outcome than 5,000 positive cases with 100 in ICU and 20 deaths. What is prioritised are not measures which will necessarily reduce total infection, but measures which will drastically reduce the number of severe COVID-19 cases and death.
The ‘new normal’ is not about living with perpetual lockdowns in their various forms. The ‘new normal’ is how Malaysia can adopt measures to minimise and mitigate the presence and impact of COVID-19 within our community while reopening most, if not all of our social and economic activities. At the same time we will build our individual and healthcare resilience to reduce death and cases requiring ICU treatment.
DAP therefore proposes a comprehensive strategy for pandemic mitigation to enable “Living with COVID-19”:
- Control and mitigate the current wave of infections;
- Readiness to meet future outbreaks;
- Open up the social and economic sectors with safety catches;
- Medium term strategies on dealing with COVID19.
In addition to addressing the nation’s immediate health and economic concerns by presenting a concrete exit strategy from the disruptive continuous lockdowns, these recommendations also serve as essential building blocks to pave the way ahead for longer term structural reforms that Malaysia urgently needs.
Total lockdowns have a devastating effect on our economy with estimated losses since the first MCO 1.0 until now of at least RM500 billion. The economy contracted by 5.6% last year and the government is forced to scale down its overly optimistic GDP growth projections from as high as 7.5% to 4%. The damaging economic impact on the ground has ravaged the lives of many Malaysian households who cannot make ends meet.
In distributing food aid or kitchen baskets, we have encountered many who have never sought such aid before. But the common request for those receiving aid are their desperate pleas to continue earning their livelihood whether for jobs, or be allowed back to work and carry on their business. For those in the M40 and small businesses, they just want a “time-out” in paying their bills whilst waiting to earn their incomes, especially direct financial grants and an interest-free bank loan moratorium.
If we plan carefully and strategically, the country can emerge stronger and better than before having ‘build back Malaysia better’.