Tough times never last but we should not lose our hopes and one day the dream will come true.
— Ram Bahadur Ghale, Nepalese entrepreneur
Before me as I write this is the Sarawak Covid-19 statistics for Monday, August 16.
A total of 1,566 new Covid-19 positive cases were reported with one death, bringing a total of 88,572 infections and 487 fatalities to date.
I have this tendency in gauging the seriousness of the pandemic by tracking the number of fatalities recorded daily.
Judging from the increasing number of deaths nationwide, Malaysia is among the worst affected countries in the world.
Already, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of almost 12,800 Malaysians with more than 1,430,000 infections. We are at a “seriously frightening” stage, with no clear strategies of how to win this war against Covid-19.
This is not something to be taken lightly and the government must ensure that it would not stand accused of toying with the lives of the citizenry, if it had not already.
What is more worrying is that we are in the midst of a political crisis and the country is now under a caretaker prime minister.
We remain hopeful that our politicians would be able to resolve their differences and cobble together a stable, majority government as soon as possible.
It is evident that the coronavirus is also killing young people, not only the sick and elderly.
Among the more prominent young people who succumbed to the virus recently were Pakatan Harapan Youth chief Shazni Munir Mohd Ithnin and popular singer Siti Sarah.
I chanced upon a video of Siti Sarah in a duet with our evergreen Jamal Abdillah. Wow, Siti had great vocals. What a waste! She was only 36 and a mother of four young kids. Covid-19 is cruel, merciless and deadly.
Everyone has to be extra vigilant, including the younger and presumably, healthier people. No one should take things for granted.
The increasing number of fatalities is of great concern. On Sunday, Aug 8, there were 360 fatalities — a new record, with the majority of deaths recorded in the Klang Valley.
In a widely circulated message online, someone wrote that the daily fatalities could be likened to a plane crash occurring in Malaysia every day with no survivors among the 200 plus people on board.
That couldn’t be further from this deadly truth.
So, how many more people will have to die before we finally see a breakthrough in this war against Covid-19? Another 10,000, 20,000 or even 100,000? We will never know.
From the statistics, it must be acknowledged that the pandemic has been handled quite well in Sarawak.
For the past several weeks, Sarawak has not recorded more than 800 infections daily nor double-digit fatalities. Until this past week, that is.
Unfortunately, the infections spiked over the past few days with Monday’s 1,566 cases a record for the past several months.
The immunisation programme has also been carried out at a much faster rate than other parts of the country. Sarawak is also hopeful to achieve herd immunity by October.
Kudos to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) headed by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas. SDMC adviser Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian’s daily updates on Facebook must also be applauded too.
In fighting this unknown, invisible enemy, it is important for political leaders to be on the top of issues in order to assuage and calm a jittery citizenry.
Uggah, Dr Sim and their SDMC colleagues are on the pulse of this war against Covid-19. To them, we say thank you and well done. The importance of vaccination also cannot be over-stressed.
Last Monday, Sarawak Health director Datuk Dr Mohamed Sapian Mohamed revealed that some 94.7 percent of those who died of Covid-19 in Sarawak did not have any history of vaccination against the Sars-Cov-2 virus.
This amounts to 425 out of 449 deaths up to Aug 8 in Sarawak. Of the remaining deceased, 21 (4.7 percent) only received their first dose while three (0.7 percent) died within 14 days of receiving either their first or second dose.
Vaccination notwithstanding, it is also important to continue taking precautions like adhering to SOPs even if one has been double-vaccinated.
It was reported that many who have been infected in Kuching also had two doses. So there, do the necessary to stay safe and alive.
Finally, I wish to appeal to our national leaders to be more involved in the realities of the pandemic deaths. At times, I feel that they are more attached to their political games than the war against Covid-19.
No, I do not expect ministers to cry for every death, but I do expect that every patient receives the best medical care possible and not be left to die.
A Covid death must never be deemed “collateral damage”. That is totally unacceptable.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
