By Ida Nadirah Ibrahim
SHAH ALAM, May 17 — Insufficient Covid-19 screening operations held nationwide have been linked with the recent spike in Covid-19 cases nationwide, says the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Covid-19 Vaccination Committee.
In a statement today, the group had urged the Federal government to take necessary steps to increase the rate of Covid-19 testings following the continuous rise in infectivity rate, citing 89 per cent of infections were registered between April 9 to May 8 and are said to be sporadic within the community.
“The inadequate testing does not augur well for the nation and has been associated with an upsurge of coronavirus cases nationwide, amid full or near-capacity Covid-19 intensive care units (ICU) across the Klang Valley, Kelantan, Sarawak, Johor, and Penang, and has contributed to the increased Case Fatality Rates recently.
“Only by ramping up our testing and tracing capacity significantly, as part of a warp-speed digitized and automated FTTIS response, will we know the extent of the overt and silent carriers of the coronavirus, isolate and quarantine them expeditiously to prevent further transmission into the wider community,” the statement read, referring to the find, test, trace, isolate, and support approach.
Citing recent statistics released, the group said Malaysia saw a 46 per cent drop in Covid-19 testing from 87,458 individuals on the day before Hari Raya (May 12) to 47,480 on the third of Hari Raya (May 15).
It added that the positive rate recorded on Aidilfitri (May 13) had risen to 5.78 per cent, and increased further to 7.32 per cent and 8.72 per cent on the second and third day respectively, which was said to be above the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations of below 5 per cent.
“Malaysia’s positive rate has been on the rise and is now breaching the WHO recommendations. This clearly shows that we are not testing enough, which also means that the daily numbers may not clearly reflect the real disease burden on the ground.
“We, therefore, urge the government to run large-scale community screening initiatives in utilising RTK-Ag for rapid surveillance in tandem with automated contact-tracing, quick isolation and the provision of appropriate material and psycho-social support (FTTIS),” said the committee, adding that Putrajaya has to begin outlining a sustainable exit strategy after the current movement control order ends on June 7.
The Opposition coalition had in January set up its own immunisation task force to ensure that the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme succeed.
The task committee is chaired by the former health minister and Kuala Selangor MP, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, and is represented by the three component parties — PKR, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), and DAP — as well as the state executive councillors for health from the PH-led state governments.
Other PH members part of the committee include former deputy health minister and Gopeng MP Dr Lee Boon Chye, Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, Lumut MP Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, Bangi MP Dr Ong Kian Ming, and the Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan state executive councillors for public health Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, Dr Norlela Ariffin and Veerapan Supramaniam.
