The daily new Covid-19 cases was down to 10,959 cases yesterday – the lowest for two-and-a-half months since 13th July 2021.
This is the best news for Khairy Jamaluddin since he was sworn in as the new Health Minister on August 30, as before July 13, the daily new Covid-19 cases were in four-digit numbers.
Now the next targets for Malaysia are to descend to four-digit numbers and go lower than the 4,000 cases of new daily cases that the country was supposed to be in three months ago under the National Recovery Plan.
Unfortunately, Malaysia’s descent to 10,959 cases, hopefully signifying the decline of Covid-19 cases to four-digit and then three-digit numbers, have been eclipsed by three events:
Firstly, Malaysia passing the 2.2 million-mark for cumulative total of Covid-19 cases yesterday, threatening to overtake Ukraine to be ranked No. 19 among nations in the world with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases;
Secondly, Malaysia’s continued high Covid-19 death rates, with 258 Covid-19 deaths yesterday (with 75 Brought-in-Dead Covid-19 deaths), raising the cumulative total of Covid-19 deaths to 25,695 Covid-19 deaths. At this rate, Malaysia would have more than 26,000 Covid-19 deaths by the end of this month.
Thirdly, Malaysia’s drop in daily new Covid-19 cases have been completely overshadowed by the even more dramatic declines of Covid-19 cases and deaths in other countries, resulting in Malaysia have more daily Covid-19 deaths than Indonesia (118 yesterday), Thailand (101), Vietnam (174), India (137), Brazil (169), Turkey (206), France (74) and United Kingdom (40).
Yesterday, Malaysia was the world’s Top No. 4th country in daily Covid-19 deaths, losing out only to Russia (779), Iran (289) and USA (264). This is an area which needs Khairy’s urgent attention!
Even in daily new Covid-19 cases, Malaysia has lost out to Indonesia, which had fallen from the peak of 56,757 cases on July 15 to 1,300 cases yesterday, while Malaysia is trying to engineer a descent from the peak of 24,599 cases on 26th August to four-digit numbers. Indonesia has declined to four-digit daily new cases for a whole month and looks set to decline to three-digit numbers before Malaysia.
We have also lost out to Thailand and Vietnam, which had respectively 10,288 and 9,362 daily new Covid-19 cases yesterday. India had fallen from its peak of 414,433 cases on May 6 to 16,697 cases yesterday – a reduction of 96 per cent!
Is it too much to expect the Malaysian peak of new daily cases of 24,599 cases on 26th August to be reduced to three-digit figures?
Lets hope that with the lowest daily new Covid-19 cases in two-and-a-half months marking the launch of the 12th Malaysia Plan by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri in Parliament yesterday, the only way for daily new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia to go is down and not up!
(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, September 28, 2021)
Dengan angka kes harian baharu Covid-19 kini menurun kepada 10,959 kes, sasaran berikutnya adalah untuk menurunkan angka kes kepada julat empat angka dan seterusnya ke bawah paras 4,000 — angka kes yang sepatutnya dicatatkan Malaysia pada tiga bulan lalu
Angka kes harian baharu Covid-19 menurun kepada 10,959 kes semalam — angka terendah dalam tempoh dua bulan setengah sejak 13 Julai 2021.
Ini adalah berita baik buat Khairy Jamaluddin sejak beliau mengangkat sumpah sebagai Menteri Kesihatan pada 30 Ogos, memandangkan sebelum 13 Julai, angka kes harian baharu Covid-19 yang direkodkan adalah pada julat empat angka.
Kini, sasaran seterusnya untuk Malaysia adalah untuk menurunkan angka kes kepada julat empat angka dan seterusnya ke bawah paras 4,000 kes — angka kes harian baharu Covid-19 yang sepatutnya dicatatkan Malaysia pada tiga bulan lalu di bawah Pelan Pemulihan Negara.
Pun begitu, Peristiwa angka kes jangkitan menurun kepada 10,959, yang memberi bayangan penurunan berterusan angka kes Covid-19 kepada julat empat angka dan seterusnya julat tiga angka, tenggelam ekoran tiga peristiwa berikut:
Pertama, Malaysia telah melepasi paras 2.2 juta untuk jumlah keseluruhan kes Covid-19 semalam, bakal memintas Ukraine untuk berada di kedudukan ke-19 antara negara-negara dengan kes keseluruhan Covid-19 tertinggi.
Kedua, Malaysia terus mencatatkan kadar kematian akibat Covid-19 yang tinggi, dengan 258 kematian akibat wabak itu dicatatkan semalam (75 daripadanya adalah kematian di luar fasiliti (BID)), menjadikan jumlah kematian terkumpul sebanyak 25,695 kes. Pada kadar ini, Malaysia akan mengumpulkan lebih 26,000 kematian akibat Covid-19 menjelang akhir bulan ini.
Ketiga, penurunan jumlah kes harian baharu Covid-19 di negara ini dibayangi penurunan ketara dalam angka kes jangkitan dan kematian akibat Covid-19 yang berlaku di negara-negara lain. Malaysia merekodkan angka kes kematian akibat Covid-19 yang lebih tinggi berbanding Indonesia (118 semalam), Thailand (101), Vietnam (174), India (137), Brazil (169), Turki (206), Perancis (74) dan United Kingdom (40).
Semalam, Malaysia ditempatkan sebagai negara ke-4 di dunia dengan angka kematian akibat Covid-19 tertinggi, tewas hanya kepada Rusia (779), Iran (289) dan Amerika Syarikat (264). Perkara ini memerlukan perhatian segera daripada Khairy!
Malaysia juga tewas kepada Indonesia dalam kategori kes harian baharu Covid-19 — Indonesia mencatatkan penurunan dari puncak 56,757 kes pada 15 Julai kepada 1,300 kes semalam, sementara Malaysia masih bergelut untuk menurunkan angka kes jangkitan dari puncak 24,599 pada 26 Ogos kepada julat empat angka. Indonesia telah menurunkan kes mereka ke julat empat angka selama sebulan dan bakal mencatatkan kes tiga angka lebih awal daripada Malaysia.
Kita juga tewas kepada Thailand dan Vietnam, masing-masing merekodkan 10,288 dan 9,362 kes harian baharu Covid-19 semalam. Kes Covid-19 di India menurun dari puncak 414,433 kes pada 6 Mei kepada 16,697 kes semalam — pengurangan sebanyak 96%!
Adakah keterlaluan untuk mengharapkan kes harian baharu Covid-19 di Malaysia menurun dari puncak 24,599 kes pada 26 Ogos kepada julat tiga angka?
Saya berharap angka kes harian baharu Covid-19 terendah dalam tempoh dua bulan setengah yang menandakan pelancaran Rancangan Malaysia ke-12 oleh Perdana Menteri, Ismail Sabri di Parlimen semalam, akan terus menurun dan tidak meningkat pada hari-hari mendatang!
(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa, 28 September 2021)