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KUALA LUMPUR – Tighter movement restrictions will not be the answer to Malaysia’s battle against Covid-19, the country’s public health experts said, as the country’s ongoing partial lockdowns, which have lasted for the past month, will not they have succeeded in reducing daily infections.
Despite the introduction of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in Klang Valley since October 14, the virus outbreak has shown no signs of abating in Malaysia’s main economic regions.
The country recorded more than 1,000 daily infections in nine of the past 14 days, since November 2, including a record 1,755 daily cases on November 6. The capital Kuala Lumpur alone recorded 475 cases on Sunday (November 15) after 460 cases were recorded. at a construction site.
Sunday’s 475 cases were the first time in months that a peninsular Malaysian state dwarfed the number of cases in the Borneo state of Sabah, which was the epicenter of the third wave of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia.
Health chief Noor Hisham Abdullah said on Monday (November 16) that the CMCO had worked well, but acknowledged that it could take longer to break the chain of infection compared to a stricter lockdown. He noted that the CMCO had, in fact, reduced the infectivity rate of Covid-19.
“I do not view the CMCO as a failure because it was an option to achieve a balance between life and livelihood, while we can still carry out our public health intervention activities,” he said, according to the Malay Mail.
Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham said that the basic number of reproduction of Covid-19 infections was now between 0.9 and 1.1, up from 2.2 when the third wave of the pandemic began.
The president of the Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association, Zainal Ariffin Omar, said the government should re-analyze its data and interventions to focus on the most vulnerable groups.
“No MCO. No CMCO. But improved MCO (selective closures) at very specific locations and venues,” Datuk Dr. Zainal told The Straits Times. “Active clusters like Kaya, Cergas are examples of weaknesses in CMCO. At the same time, testing and isolation are increasing.”
Dr. Zainal was referring to the clusters originating in the workplace communities that eventually registered a large number of positive cases. These compare with the previous trend in which the majority of cases originated in prisons and detention centers.
Enhanced OLS, or EMCO, refers to complete blockages in just a small area where infections are high. Barbed wire fences are placed around these “red zones”, with more than 40 cases recorded in the last 14 days, no one is allowed in or out for two weeks, and all residents are screened for the virus.
Malaysia reported on Monday (November 16) other cases above 1,000, with 1,103 new Covid-19 infections, the fourth consecutive day with a four-digit figure. This brings the total cumulative number of cases in the country to 48,520.
Kuala Lumpur registered the highest number of new cases on Monday, with 392 cases (49.3 of the total).
Of these, 385 were from the Damanlela construction site group.
The government announced EMCO on Monday for the dormitories operated by glove maker Top Glove and the surrounding areas in Klang.
Another area called Medan 88, near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, was placed under EMCO last week.
Under the CMCO, which now affects nine of Malaysia’s 13 states and all three federal territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan), the public can still travel to work and shop, but cannot cross state lines except for work. or emergencies. Mass gatherings, such as religious services, are prohibited and only three people are allowed to travel in the same vehicle.
“CMCO worked to an extent. Otherwise, we would see many more cases. The balancing act between open and restricted movement often resulted in confusing standard operating procedures (SOPs),” he said.
Meanwhile, Universiti Putra Malaysia epidemiologist Malina Osman said Malaysia has no “better option” except to educate people to ensure better compliance with CMCO restrictions.
“An improved OLS may be needed, but the distribution of infection in the community, as well as problems related to logistics, may not allow it to be a favorable option,” Associate Professor Malina told The Straits Times.
“The key word is to be patient under this CMCO, continue to comply with the SOPs and help each other to strengthen preventive measures and also take care of society,” he added, adding that an increased testing regime is also costly for governments, as that there is currently no vaccine on the market for the virus.
Calculations by health news site Code Blue over the weekend showed that the average number of daily cases in the Klang Valley, a region that covers Selangor state, Kuala Lumpur, and the administrative capital Putrajaya, has risen continuously since CMCO was implemented.
The region averaged 83 cases per day when CMCO first started in the second week of October, but the average jumped to 265 cases per day at the end of the last week.
Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had also called for more selective shutdowns rather than a general semi-shutdown, which he said was hurting the nation’s economy and the underprivileged group.
Malaysia’s Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Monday that Malaysia is already in talks with at least eight producers of the Covid-19 vaccine.
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