PETALING JAYA: Covid-19 is already spreading rapidly in the community, especially in Selangor which has consistently recorded the highest number of new cases daily.
However, little more can be done to curb the spread of infections and the situation could be worse than reported, according to health experts.
In casting doubt on available data, Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy founder and chief executive officer Azrul Mohd Khalib said the situation is likely under-reported, especially in states other than Selangor.
“After all, 80% of those who tested positive are asymptomatic.”
Azrul said Selangor, being the epicentre of the pandemic, would be the best representation of the situation nationwide.
He noted that Selangor was the only state that has implemented the “Find, Test, Trace, Isolate and Support” strategy early in the pandemic.
“That means that the health authorities are pro-actively looking for cases in the community to screen, isolate and treat rather than simply waiting for positive cases to show up,” he said.
“This is why Selangor appears to have more cases. The question is why are the other states not adopting the same strategy?”
Azrul said other states should adopt the same strategy so that the authorities can get a better understanding and the real picture of the situation in Malaysia.
He said restrictive measures such as the movement control order (MCO) are meant only to manage the spread of infections within a defined area, enabling the authorities to contain possible new infections and treating existing ones within the location.
“But they are neither solutions nor do they provide permanent reductions in the number of cases. They are only intended to give breathing space.”
Azrul said success is less about “lurching from the MCO to conditional MCO” or bringing the number of cases down to zero and more about ensuring that the healthcare infrastructure is able to manage the pandemic and not be overwhelmed.
“We can have multiple MCOs, but at the end of the day, only the people can ensure the success of disease prevention and control measures by ensuring that everyone, including politicians, observe the standard operating procedures (SOP).”
He added that compared with other countries, Malaysia possibly has one of the highest levels of compliance in the world.
Unfortunately, the sheer virulence of the Covid-19 virus meant that “only so much can be done” to manage it, he added.
“Infections will happen, no matter how strict the enforcement of the SOP. We need to get as many people vaccinated and as quickly as possible to prevent them from falling seriously ill and dying.
“This is the only way forward, the only way to protect people and address the problem. We must continue to emphasise the basics, like wearing masks, good hand hygiene and social distancing,” he said.
Malaysian Medical Association president Datuk Dr M. Subramaniam said the best way to avoid infection now is to assume that everyone else, including family members, are possibly carrying the virus.
He said strict adherence to the SOP has never been more essential to protect one another from infection.
At the same time, he said the government should ramp up mass screening and speed up the vaccination exercise to overcome the surge in the number of cases.
Another 4,446 new cases were reported yesterday, bringing the total to 474,556 across the country. In addition, 45 people succumbed to the infection, bringing the death toll to 1,947.
Of the new cases yesterday, 1,650 were reported in Selangor, bringing the state’s total to 155,313. This makes it the hardest hit state in Malaysia.
“We cannot emphasise enough how important it is to observe the SOP to protect one another,” Subramaniam said.
“It’s best to stay home, and go out only when absolutely necessary.”
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