KUCHING: The two-week extension of the movement control order (MCO) will not be able to halt the Covid-19 pandemic if people continue to not comply with the order.
Stressing the paramount importance to flatten the curve of the virus,
University Malaya (UM) epidemiologist Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud urged the government to optimise all healthcare resources.
“As I predicted, a 2-week MCO would not be enough which is why the prime minister announced the extension to the MCO.
“The government must optimise all healthcare resources. We need more human capital to be sourced in, so that we can ensure that the isolation is being done properly,” he told New Sarawak Tribune when contacted yesterday.
No matter how much it cost, the nation’s premier public health physician said the government has no choice but to go for multi-sectoral approach to reduce the number of new infection.
“This is the only way to go so that we can make the best use of resources at hand.
“And the government must tighten its enforcement of the MCO to make this effective,” he pointed out.
Increasing the testing and isolation of positive cases, he stressed, must be ramped up tremendously in complement the MCO.
“Preparations to increase spare healthcare capacity also need to be carried out and quickly.
“Modelling of the disease is also absolutely necessary to inform policy makers,” he said.
The University Malaya professor also urged Malaysians to continue to fight the virus and prepare for the worst in the battle against Covid-19.
