COVID-19 Pandemic Management - GPS, Show Your Mettle Now!
The KPIs Of The GPS Government And Of The SDMC
There was a time in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in Sarawak when Sarawakians honestly believed that the GPS government of Sarawak and the SDMC (Sarawak Disaster Management Committee) were doing an excellent job in controlling the spread of the virus in Sarawak. For example, throughout year 2020, the highest number of positive cases for a single day in Sarawak was 32, reported on the 01/04/2020 whereas Selangor reported figures in excess of 1200 on the 23/11/2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Sarawak
In year 2021, Sarawak went downhill. In Jan 2021, the highest single day tally was 255, reported on the 24/01/2021. In February 2021, the highest single day tally was 353, reported on the 24/02/2021. On the 28/03/2021, Sarawak emerged as the champion with 426 new positive cases reported. Covid.19 related death toll totals 107 as at today while the total positive cases stands at 16,214 (out of the 28,887 cases of Persons Under Investigation or PUI).This is beginning to look like a very perplexing anomaly as the COVID.19 vaccination is already underway. It certainly looks like the GPS government has seriously blundered in its management of the pandemic. As can be seen quite clearly, the figure reported in March 2021 is nearly 14 times the highest for the whole of year 2020.
Where did it go wrong?
Breaking The Chain Of Transmission - Was There A Serious One In Place?
The blame for the spike in the numbers of new positive cases was blamed mainly on social gatherings like Chinese New Year visits, cock fighting sessions, a birthday party and funerals. What were also mentioned in the daily reports but not assigned blames in similar fashion to the events mentioned above are the asymptomatic people detected among the positive cases identified during screenings. It does not need nuclear science to tell that these asymptomatic people were significant contributors to the statistics of positive cases in Sarawak. So why were these asymptomatic people, who were moving freely in the state not detected? Simply put, the screening processes that were put in place by SDMC and the Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) were not ‘designed’ to identify ALL the asymptomatic people in the state. The screenings were knee-jerk responses to positive cases identified after ad-hoc cases were tested as positive in hospitals and clinics.
The obvious solution to the problem was to mass screen the entire population of Sarawak but for reason best known to the Sarawak government and to the SDMC this was not done.
Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing advocated for mass screening although he limits his recommendation to the locality where Covid.19 positive cases have emerged but as said above, his recommendations fell on deaf ears.
Where or what were the constraints that prevented them from doing mass screening? The SDMC obviously have enough wisdom to divide Sarawak into zones, color code the zones and restrict movement of people between zones. The basic foundation for mass screening was already in place. They could have isolated the zones and conduct the mass screening zone by zone and identify all the positive and asymptomatic people as they moved through the zones. What was it that prevented them from optimising what they have already put in place? Only they know.
The Vaccines
The general Sarawak public knew that in Malaysia and for now, it is only the PN federal government that has the locus standi to import the Covid.19 vaccine. So when CM Abang Johari announced that the Sarawak government will foot the entire cost of the vaccines for Sarawak, they were simultaneously glad and perplexed. Glad because it appears Sarawak did not have to worry whether or not the federal government actually have the financial resources to import sufficient vaccines. Sarawak apparently has sufficient resources of its own or so it seems. It certainly look that way as the GPS government had earlier decided to fully finance the construction of the Batang Lupar bridge by themselves after they failed to convince the PN federal government to shoulder its burden on the bridge. At the same time, Sarawakians were understandably perplexed as without the cooperation of the federal government on the matter, Sarawak will not get the vaccine in the amount they want. So when CM Abang Johari said they are waiting for an official reply from the federal government on the matter you can almost hear Sarawakians saying, ‘ Told you so ‘.
You would have expected CM Abang Johari and his GPS government to immediately exploit their kingmaker’s clout, especially now when the PN federal government is tottering on the edge of the abyss, and force the federal government to quickly make arrangement to import the vaccine for Sarawak but they did not.
Vaccination - Targeted Groups And Prioritising
‘ Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas is calling upon companies or industries with many workers operating in the state to submit the name list of their workers to the nearest resident offices in their respective division to be included in the state Covid-19 vaccination programme ‘
In most countries in UK and in the EU countries, the government are prioritising their frontliners and the vulnerable among their citizens. Among those considered as vulnerable are the elderly, especially those with underlying medical issues. In Sarawak the elderly do not seems to be on the priority list. Are the elderly in Sarawak considered as not deserving of the vaccines because economically they are past the age where they are able contribute positively to the economy?
Rural Folks - Registration Via Sejahthera and Connectivity
DCM Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas is reported to have said registration for the Covid.19 vaccination can be done through the MySejahtera application or at the nearest hospital, health clinic or district office.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2021/02/667440/sarawak-opens-registration-covid-19-vaccination
It is common knowledge that for the vast majority of rural based Sarawakians, good internet connectivity is something that they continue to dream of only. Registration for the vaccination via MySejathera is out of the question. And there are those for whom registration through the nearest hospitals or clinics or the district office is also a major challenge, either because of poor or non-existent road connectivity. Best as we can tell, there is no mention of government reaching out to these rural based Sarawakians to get them registered. The stated desire of CM Abang Johari to have all Sarawakians vaccinated somehow rings hollow in the face of this.
In conclusion and in the matter of the management of the Covid.19 pandemic, the GPS government has failed and failed miserably too and the only way to deal with these pretend kingmakers is to make them into deep fired frogs @ katak goreng kering with cili kering as optional flavour enhancer. Deep fry them in the coming PRN and serve them up to their buddies in Malaya.
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