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Malaysia has joined the United States with Covid-19 infections invading the top precincts of government – with our Ministers’ Cluster joining the White House Cluster to illustrate the hazards of high office.
In Malaysia, the Cabinet has been affected with one Minister confirmed as down with Covid-19 infection and five Ministers in quarantine including the Prime Minister himself undergoing a 14-day home quarantine as directed by Home Surveillance Order (HSO) issued by the Health Ministry.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump returned from the Walter Reed National Medical Military Centre to the White House, which has become a centre for contagion partly because of disregard for mitigation measures, to peel off his mask to convert his still-ongoing disease into a show of strength. However, despite his longstanding practice of denying the pandemic’s severity and downplaying its risks, there are more than 200,000 Americans dead and 7.5 millions Americans infected as well as over a dozen of Trump’s top aides tested positive for Covid-19.
Although Trump is not the first government leader to be tested positive for Covid 19 – others include Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – what should be the lesson of Covid-19 infection in high government places.
Whether it is the Ministers’ Cluster or the White House Cluster, it should be the need for top government leaders to be examples to inspire national unity and resolve to fight the war against the coronavirus in the Covid 19 pandemic and not the opposite.
Despite our political differences, I pray that all Ministers and political leaders whatever their party affiliation and undergoing treatment or quarantine will be healthy and safe.
Malaysia is now facing the challenge of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic although we should be have been spared the onslaughts of its second wave as well as third wave.
There has been a spike in Covid-19 cases following Sabah’s 16th state general election on Sept 26 – reaching an all-time high since the outbreak first started in Malaysia early this year.
Yesterday, a whopping 432 new cases were reported, on Sunday (Oct 4) 293, Saturday (Oct 3) 317 and Friday (Oct 2) 287 bringing the cumulative total to 12,813 cases.
The current active caseload numbers 2,336 and the number of patients who require intensive care has increased to 32, up from eight last Monday.
The Untied States should have provided world leadership in the war against the coronavirus in the Covid-19 pandemic but it is quite a catastrophe, being the country with the most number of infections and deaths, registering a cumulative total of 7,679,644 cases and 215,032 fatalities.
Although we have done fairly well in bringing the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak under control, we are now facing a new challenging of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We are listed No. 31 in Asia among countries for cumulative total number of Covid-19 cases, but we should always be conscious that we should and could have done better than other Asian countries which have larger populations like Thailand, which is listed No. 37 and Vietnam which is listed No. 41.
In the United Nations today, the World Health Organisation has estimated that roughly one in 10 people may have been infected with the coronavirus, leaving the vast majority of the world’s population vulnerable to the Covid-19 disease it causes.
This is a mind-boggling figure as it would mean that 780 million people are infected with Covid-19 as the world population is 7.8 billion – a far cry from the recorded Covid-19 estimate.
According the worldometer website, the current data for the cumulative total of Covid-19 infections worldwide stands at 35,701,674 with 1,045,953 fatalities, and the top five countries in terms of total cumulative Covid-19 infections (and fatalities)– very different from the Top Five in the early period of the pandemic – are as follows:
Country – Total Cases – Total Deaths
1. United States – 7,679,644 – 215,032
2. India – 6,685,082 – 103,600
3. Brazil – 4,940,499 – 146,773
4. Russia – 1,225,889 – 21,475
5. Colombia – 862,158 – 26,844
The government must urgently restore public trust and confidence in the war against Covid-19 virus and government leaders must stop exhorting the people to comply with the Covid-19 SOP while they themselves are not prepared to comply.
As someone wrote today: “We would have failed in our national duty of patriotism if we let irresponsible leaders escape without being held accountable.”
(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Tuesday 6th October 2020)
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Kluster Menteri menyertai Kluster White House menunjukkan keperluan untuk para pemimpin kerajaan menjadi tauladan yang baik kepada rakyat bagi membolehkan negara kita bersatu padu dalam melawan penularan wabak Covid-19
Malaysia baru sahaja menyertai Amerika Syarikat dengan merekodkan jangkitan Covid-19 dalam kalangan pimpinan tertinggi kerajaan — dengan Kluster Menteri kita, yang kini bersama dengan Kluster White House dalam menunjukkan risiko jawatan tinggi.
Di Malaysia, Kabinet telah terkesan apabila seorang Menteri disahkan dijangkiti Covid-19 dengan lima orang menteri, termasuklah Perdana Menteri sendiri terpaksa menjalani kuarantin di bawah Perintah Pengawasan dan Pemerhatian dari Rumah Kediaman (HSO) di bawha arahan Kementerian Kesihatan.
Di Washington, Presiden AS, Donald Trump telah kembali daripada Pusat Rawatan Tentera Kebangsaan Walter Reed ke White House — yang baru-baru ini menjadi pusat penularan wabak Covid-19 akibat tidak meremehkan langkah-langkah pencegahan — dalam satu cubaan untuk menunjukkan kekuatan beliau. Namun begitu, walaupun setelah sekian lama menafikan keseriusan wabak ini, terdapat lebih daripada 200,000 rakyat Amerika yang telah terkorban akibat Covid-19, dengan lebih daripada 7.5 juta yang dijangkiti, bersama-sama dengan lebih satu dozen pegawai tinggi Trump juga disahkan positif.
Walaupun Trump bukanlah pemimpin dunia pertama yang dijangkiti Covid-19 — Presiden Brazil Jair Bolsonaro dan Perdana Menteri United Kingdom Boris Johnson juga telah dijangkiti wabak ini — apakah pengajaran yang boleh kita dapatkan daripada jangkitan Covid-19 dalam kalangan pimpinan tertinggi sebuah negara.
Sama ada Kluster Menteri mahupun Kluster White House, keutamaan pemimpin kerajaan seharusnya berfokus kepada memastikan wujudnya perpaduan dan azam nasional untuk melawan wabak Covid-19, bukan sebaliknya.
Walaupun berbeza fahaman politik, saya mendoakan semua menteri dan pemimpin politik yang, tidak kira daripada mana-mana parti sekalipun, sihat dan selamat.
Negara kita sedang berhadapan dengan cabaran gelombang ketiga penularan wabak Covid-19, walaupun kita sepatutnya tidak perlu berhadapan dengan gelombang kedua wabak ini sekalipun, apatah lagi gelombang ketiga.
Terdapat peningkatan kes-kes Covid-19 sejurus selepas Pilihan Raya Negeri Sabah yang ke-16 pada 26 September — yang kini mencatatkan rekod tertinggi baharu sejak kes ini mula dikesan dalam negara pada awal tahun ini.
Semalam, sejumlah 432 kes baharu telah dilaporkan, pada hari Ahad (4 Oktober) 293 kes, Sabtu (3 Oktober) 317, dan Jumaat (2 Oktober) 287, membawa kepada sejumlah 12,813 kes terkumpul.
Jumlah kes aktif semasa adalah 2,336 dan jumlah pesakit yang memerlukan rawatan rapi telah meningkat kepada 32, berbanding dengan lapan pada hari Isnin lepas.
Amerika Syarikat sepatutnya menunjukkan kepimpinan dalam melawan wabak koronavirus ini tetapi negara tersebut berada dalam bencana, dengan mencatatkan jumlah jangkitan dan kematian yang tertinggi di seluruh dunia, 7,679,644 kes dan 215,032 kematian.
Walaupun kita telah berjaya mengawal gelombang kedua penularan wabak Covid-19 ini, kita kini berhadapan dengan cabaran yang dibawa oleh gelombang ketiga pula.
Kita berada di tempat ke-31 di Asia, dari segi jumlah kes Covid-19 terkumpul. Tetapi kita perlu sentiasa beringat yang kita sepatutnya berada pada kedudukan yang lebih baik berbanding dengan negara-negara yang mempunyai lebih ramai penduduk, seperti Thailand yang berada di kedudukan ke-37 dan Vietnam yang berada di kedudukan ke-41.
Di Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu hari ini, Kesatuan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) menjangkakan yang kira-kira seorang dalam sepuluh orang mungkin telah dijangkiti oleh koronavirus ini, mendedahkan sejumlah besar populasi dunia kepada risiko jangkitan Covid-19.
Angka ini amatlah merisaukan, memandangkan perkara ini bermakna hampir 780 juta orang telah dijangkiti wabak ini, 10 peratus daripada populasi dunia sebanyak 7.8 bilion orang — jumlah yang sangat berbeza dengan jangkaan semasa Covid-19.
Menurut laman web Worldometer, data terkini jumlah kes terkumpul di seluruh dunia semasa adalah 35,701,674 kes dengan 1,045,953 kematian, dan lima negara dengan jumlah kes tertinggi (satu senarai yang sangat berbeza berbanding dengan waktu wabak ini mula menular) adalah seperti berikut:
Negar-a Jumlah Kes – Jumlah Kematian
1. Amerika Syarikat – 7,679,644 – 215,032
2. India – 6,685,082 – 103,600
3. Brazil – 4,940,499 – 146,773
4. Rusia – 1,225,889 – 21,475
5. Colombia – 862,158 – 26,844
Pihak kerajaan perlu segera mengembalikan keyakinan dan kepercayaan rakyat dalam usaha melawan wabak Covid-19 ini dan pemimpin kerajaan juga perlu mematuhi SOP Covid-19 yang mereka telah kenakan kepada rakyat.
Seperti yang dituliskan oleh seseorang semalam: “Kita akan gagal dalam menjalankan kewajipan patriotisme kita jika kita membiarkan pemimpin yang tidak bertanggungjawab melarikan diri tanpa dipertanggungjawabkan.”
(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Selasa, 6 Oktober 2020)