YOURSAY | Are we waving the white flag in the Covid battle?

YOURSAY | ‘The MCO doesn't seem to have made much of a difference, unlike the one last year.’

Record 5,725 new cases, cumulative cases breach 200k mark

Clever Voter: It looks the upward trend will continue, and how high it will be is anyone's guess. The authorities are losing the battle simply because they underestimated the extent the virus could spread, coupled with the many unknowns.

While enforcement has been mixed, behaviours are not exactly aligned. The pandemic has also exposed the awful living condition of our foreign workers. The geographies of where infections are traced show decades of neglect of this community.

BrownPuma4932: Malaysia’s Covid task force should come out with new strategies to stop the spread of the virus.

Prevention is better than cure. Mobilise local community leaders, Rukun Tetangga, Rela and local councils to hit the streets to educate the public about social distancing and to properly wear face masks. Also, distribute flyers informing the rakyat the consequences of infections.

Jobless Malaysians (such as tourist guides) should be recruited as community ambassadors to go to crowded places to inform the rakyat to follow SOPs (standard operating procedures). The majority of infected victims are local Malaysians.

Annonymoussi: It is very clear the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government has lost the battle in the fight against Covid-19.

The key ministers who are supposed to be leading the fight are clueless but are still being allowed to stay on in their ministerial posts because the prime minister is afraid to fire them since he needs their support.

Meanwhile, those who have to suffer are ordinary citizens – they are worried about their health and how to put food on the table. Who is going to save Malaysia?

Oct: The rakyat accepted in good faith that the emergency pushed by the PM will greatly enhance and improve the overall situation caused by the pandemic.

Alas, it becomes worse as time goes by. The health minister and his two deputies are nowhere around to take charge but have been as quiet as a surau mouse. So far, we have not heard anything from the PM about how the emergency can help ease the situation.

All business sectors seem to be opened, and it is business as usual, albeit no dining for restaurants. We see YBs moving about freely. No action is taken against them for breaking SOPs. If caught, they are slapped with a small penalty.

The emergency has failed to help in our fight against the pandemic. After more than one year battling the pandemic, Malaysia is still unable to get on top of it as the infection rate shows daily highs of above 5,000.

It looks like Malaysia has itself resigned to this fate. Poor Malaysians are made to suffer because of the incompetency of the government.

Newday: Selangor with record numbers of new cases, and so is Kuala Lumpur.

Yet wherever I drive, it was like perpetual peak hour. Side streets are full of hawkers, cars triple parked, people everywhere and traffic jams. I had to park two blocks away from my doctor’s surgery.

One-third of the people are wearing their masks under the nose. I repeat - what MCO?

GoldenImpala8127: We have realised in Malaysia that lockdowns or MCOs do not work. It’s the Malaysian attitude.

It’s the same reason as to why people cut queues, have no manners when driving, have no civic consciousness, dirty public toilets, and how hard it is to eradicate racism and corruption.

CH Y: I think the PN government has given up on containment since allowing herd immunity together with vaccination in March and keeping our fingers crossed that after 70 percent of the population is either infected or immunised, the problem will just go away.

Meanwhile, hope that you will not appear in the obituary list.

Salvage Malaysia: Clearly, PN is a failed government. It’s better to live with the fact that Covid will be around and not lock down the economy any further.

MCO and emergency are a waste of time as double standards could be seen every day, leaving the rakyat and businesses to suffer.

Malaysia should not come under the whims and fancies of a government that has lost its majority. Please give the country back to the rakyat.

Enlightened Globalist: Yes, the situation is totally out of control. The MCO doesn't seem to have made much of a difference, unlike the one last year. It looks like the MCO might have to be extended for a few more weeks.

The blame should lie on Dr Mahathir Mohamad for his selfish act in dissolving the Pakatan Harapan government at the beginning of the pandemic. This started the ball rolling for an unstable government, the Sabah elections and then the post-election Covid surge.

Milshah: I am suggesting a total shutdown for red areas. Clearly, the current methods are not working. I fear that this is going to escalate out of control if nothing is done to stop the increase.

Impose a total lockdown for two weeks. And help the unemployed, B40 (bottom 40 percent), and the day-wage earners during that time. Drastic times calls for drastic measures.

Reflective: With hospital already overflowing, we are at a serious crisis point. The ‘R’ (reproduction) number in Klang Valley must now be well over 1, meaning the number of cases is increasing exponentially.

Are we in denial? Where is the strategic leadership?

MokhtarAhmad: We should thank the Hindus in Malaysia for cancelling their Thaipusam gathering at Batu Caves and elsewhere this year.

Their discipline and kind gesture for helping to fight the spread of Covid is greatly appreciated. Thank you and wasalam.

Apanakdikato: The gross mismanagement of the Covid situation in the country by PN has caused the entire healthcare system to collapse.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, what is your scientific justification to discriminate against foreigners in condominiums when PN ministers themselves are the ones caught flouting Covid regulations?

There is a new type of swab - the anal swab - which is available and is claimed to be more accurate than the throat/nasal swab. I would highly recommend that the anal swab is used especially for recalcitrant PN ministers, and to do it in public.

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