By Ida Nadirah Ibrahim
SHAH ALAM, Feb 8 — Selangor requires access to updated data to be able to draw up new strategies in order to manage the Covid-19 outbreak in the state.
Its Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said the ability to contain the infection would be effective by gaining access to all the realtime and updated data to curb the spread of the coronavirus in certain localities.
“We have to overtake the outbreak if we want to stop it. We cannot just follow it.
“All the data have to be updated for us to curb the spread in certain areas. At one point (previously) we were able to predict and project in which areas the virus would spread, which is why we insist on data sharing so we can analyse it for the next few weeks or months,” said Amirudin on a Facebook live session with The Star adviser Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai last night.
Also present during the online discourse titled “Covid-19 Fight: Red Zone Selangor” were former Utusan Melayu group chief editor Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar and Sinar Harian managing editor Datuk Hussamuddin Yaacub.
Amirudin said it is crucial for the state and the Federal government to work together “beyond political inclination” to allow the data sharing between the state developed contact tracing system, SELangkah, and Putrajaya’s MySejahtera.
“In my first meeting with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, we highlighted on the synchronisation of the data.
“Then when we met up with Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, we once raised again about combine and data analysis.
“Recently we have received a positive response for us to share the data, not just from MySejahtera but also from SELangkah to MySejahtera. They (Putrajaya) have agreed and would allow our officers to go to the MySejahtera command centre to acquire access and we hope that this would actually happen,” said Amirudin.
He further explained that the data-sharing was not about data mining but to allow better projection of future transmissions.
“It’s beyond politics. If they want to put protection on the data, we agree. But now it is about how to overtake the outbreak, not to follow.
