America is marking the 20th anniversary of the terrible “911” Tragedy.
For Malaysia, the 21-month Covid-19 pandemic is equivalent to seven “911” tragedies in the United States in human lives lost – and Malaysians have a right to ask: When will the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia end?
America lost 3,000 human lives in the “911” tragedy. Today, the reconvening of Parliament, Malaysia would have neared or passed the 21,000-mark for Covid-19 deaths – seven times the toll of the American “911” tragedy!
The day before, the new Health Ministry (MoH) website, CovidNow recorded that we had 592 Covid-19 deaths.
Malaysians are now told that due to ongoing exercise to clear the backlog of Covid-19 death data, the Health Ministry expects the number of “reported deaths” to spike in the coming days.
Malaysians have been advised to refer to a new data set – “actual deaths” – as an indicator of the real-time situation.
This MoH explanation has caused considerable confusion.
Firstly, the MoH is not denying that the figures of “reported deaths” represented actual number of persons who had died of Covid-19 in Malaysia.
Secondly, for how long had the Malaysian public been given a lower estimate of the Covid-19 deaths in the country – one, two or three months?
Thirdly, for yesterday’s Covid-19 deaths data, which were posted at 1.30 am. on the new COVIDNOW website and at 4 am. on Worldometer, there were 292 Covid-19 deaths, including 106 Brought-in-Dead (BID) Covid-19 deaths. How many are respectively “reported deaths” and “actual deaths”?
Fourthly, is the MOH prepared to go back for one, two or even three months to issue a correction of daily Covid-19 deaths to show the “actual death” and “reported death” position on every particular date?
I cannot understand how the former Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, can continue to claim that his government’s war and strategy against the Covid-19 pandemic had not been a failure, as he claimed at the recent National Recovery Summit.
When Muhyiddin became Prime Minister on March 1, 2020, there were 29 Covid-19 cases and zero deaths. Today, we are likely to pass the two million-mark for Covid-19 cases and 21,000-mark for Covid19 deaths today?
We were ranked No. 89 when we celebrated our 57th Malaysia Day on Sept. 16, 2020 but in the last 12 months we have overtaken 68 other countries to be ranked No. 21 country with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases to join twenty other nations with more than two million cumulative total of Covid-19 cases.
We have become the top No. 1 nation in ASEAN in daily new Covid-19 cases, and for the last 26 days, we are having more daily new Covid-19 cases than Indonesia – in fact, Indonesia has only 3,779 new Covid-19 cases yesterday as compared to Malaysia’s 19,198 new cases.
The day before, we were the world’s Top No. 6th nation in daily new Covid-19 cases and the world’s Top 4th country in daily Covid-19 deaths. Yesterday, we were the world’s Top No. 8th nation in daily new Covid-19 cases and the world’s Top No. 4th country in daily Covid-19 deaths.
With 292 Covid-19 deaths yesterday, we have now beaten the world’s Top Four Countries with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases in daily Covid-19 deaths – United States (246 Covid-19 deaths), India (210 deaths), Brazil (261 deaths) and the United Kingdom (56 deaths).
Aren’t these sufficient indications of the catastrophic nature of the war and strategy of the Muhyiddin government against the Covid-19 pandemic and a new start must be made in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic?
Yesterday I asked whether the national vaccination rollout has stalled – that despite the promise of the administration of half-a-million dose of vaccine a day, we had only reached 258,929 doses.
The dosage of vaccines administered yesterday was even lower – at 227,476 doses.
An explanation from the new Health Minister is warranted.
(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 13th September 2021)
Pandemik Covid-19 yang berlarutan selama 21 bulan di Malaysia telah mengorbankan seramai tujuh kali ganda “tragedi 9/11” di Amerika Syarikat — bilakah wabak ini akan berakhir?
Amerika sedang menandakan ulang tahun ke-20 tragedi buruk peristiwa 9/11.
Untuk Malaysia, pandemik Covid-19 selama 21 bulan ini telah mengorbankan nyawa seramai tujuh kali “tragedi 9/11” — dan rakyat Malaysia berhak untuk bertanya: Bilakah wabak ini akan berakhir?
Seramai 3,000 orang kehilangan nyawa mereka dalam tragedi 9/11 di Amerika Syarikat. Hari ini, semasa sidang Parlimen dibuka semula, Malaysia akan semakin menghampiri angka 21,000 kematian terkumpul akibat Covid-19.
Hari sebelumnya, laman web Kementerian Kesihatan (KKM), CovidNow, mencatatkan 292 kematian akibat Covid-19.
Rakyat Malaysia kini diberitahu yang disebabkan usaha KKM untuk menyelesaikan backlog maklumat kematian akibat Covid-19 sedia ada, pihak KKM menjangkakan peningkatan “kematian dilaporkan” dalam beberapa hari yang akan datang.
Rakyat Malaysia telah dinasihati untuk merujuk kepada set data yang baharu — “jumlah kematian sebenar” — sebagai petunjuk situasi semasa.
Penjelasan KKM ini telah menimbulkan kekeliruan.
Pertamanya, KKM tidak menafikan yang angka “kematian dilaporkan” ini merupakan angka sebenar jumlah orang yang telah terkorban akibat Covid-19 di Malaysia.
Kedua, berapa lamakah rakyat Malaysia telah diberikan anggaran yang lebih rendah mengenai kematian akibat Covid-19 dalam negara — satu, dua, atau tiga bulan?
Ketiga, angka kematian Covid-19 semalam, yang dilaporkan pada jam 1:30 pagi pada laman web COVIDNOW dan pada jam 4 pagi pada laman web Worldometer, menunjukkan terdapat 592 kematian, termasuklah 106 kes kematian dibawa ke hospital (BID). Berapa banyakkah kematian ini termasuklah dalam kategori “kematian dilaporkan” dan “kematian sebenar”?
Keempat, adakah KKM bersedia untuk menerbitkan pembetulan kepada angka kematian ini untuk satu, dua, atau tiga bulan yang lepas untuk setiap hari?
Saya masih tidak dapat memahami bagaimana mantan Perdana Menteri, Muhyiddin Yassin, dapat terus mendakwa yang perang dan strategi kerajaannya dalam melawan wabak Covid-19 ini tidak menjadi satu kegagalan, seperti yang dikatakan beliau dalam Persidangan Pemulihan Negara baru-baru ini.
Semasa Muhyiddin menjadi Perdana Menteri pada 1 Mac 2020, kita mencatatkan 29 kes Covid-19 dan sifar kematian. Hari ini, kita bakas melepasi paras 2 juta kes Covid-19 dan 21,000 kematian.
Kita berada di tempat ke-89 semasa kita menyambut Hari Malaysia ke-57 pada 16 September 2020, tetapi dalam 12 bulan yang lepas, kita telah mengatasi kedudukan 68 buah negara untuk berada di tempat ke-21 dengan jumlah kes tertinggi di dunia, bersama dengan 20 negara lain yang mencatatkan dua juta kes terkumpul Covid-19.
Kita telah menjadi negara dengan jumlah kes baharu tertinggi di ASEAN, dan untuk 26 hari yang lepas, kita mencatatkan lebih banyak kes Covid-19 berbanding dengan Indonesia — malah, Indonesia hanya mencatatkan 3,779 kes semalam berbanding dengan 19,198 kes di Malaysia.
Kelmarin, kita merupakan negara keenam di dunia dari segi jumlah kes baharu tertinggi, dan negara keempat dari segi jumlah kematian tertinggi. Semalam, kita berada di tempat kelapan dan keempat dari segi jumlah kes baharu dan kematian tertinggi.
Dengan 292 kematian akibat Covid-19 semalam, kita telah mengatakan empat negara teratas di dunia yang mencatatkan jumlah kematian terkumpul tertinggi — Amerika Syarikat (246 kematian), India (210 kematian), Brazil (216 kematian) dan United Kingdom (56 kematian).
Bukankah semua ini menjadi petunjuk yang jelas betapa gagalnya strategi kerajaan Muhyiddin dalam melawan wabak Covid-19 dan satu permulaan baharu diperlukan untuk melawan wabak ini?
Semalam, saya tanya sama ada pemberian vaksinasi kebangsaan kini semakin perlahan — walaupun kerajaan menjanjikan setengah juta dos vaksin diedarkan sehari, kita hanya mencapai kadar 258,929 dos.
Kadar dos yang diedarkan semalam juga lebih rendah, pada kadar 227,476 dos.
Kita perlukan satu penjelasan daripada Menteri Kesihatan.
(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Hari Isnin, 13 September 2021)
