Well-managed MCO would have been enough to deal with Covid-19 – Jannie
KOTA KINABALU: After the announcement of MCO 2.0, many ordinary citizens are still grappling with the emergency proclamation lasting until August 1, which is intended to also apparently curb the spread of Covid-19.
However, many believe that the move by Muhyiddin to seek a declaration of emergency was politically motivated when he lost the support of the majority of MPs.
“A well-managed Movement Control Order to deal with the pandemic would have been enough, and there is no need to ursurp democracy.
“With the emergency declaration and suspension of Parliament, PN now has all the power to do whatever it wants, and has the potential to create multiple crises,” said Kapayan assemblywoman Jannie Lasimbang.
Immediately after emergency was proclaimed, CNBC reported that Malaysia’s stocks and currency fell.
“The government must be clear and realistic on its goals to have long term strategy to deal with this pandemic.
“After the experience and challenges of the previous MCO, the government should have allowed time to review SOPs and give people and businesses enough time to prepare before MCO was announced,” Jannie added.
The MCO is an acceptable and necessary move, as Malaysia cannot afford further increase in Covid-19 cases. The first three clinical stages of Covid-19 treatment (stages 1-2 and 3) which needs normal oxygen and basic care (monitoring and basic blood tests) are managed in quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC) set up by the Ministry of Health (MoH). For clinical stages 4 - 5, suspected and/or confirmed cases, patients need to be admitted to hospital. MoH said it spends approximately RM18,270 to treat one severely sick Covid-19 patient for an average hospital admission period of three weeks.
“A B40 patient who was admitted to the quarantine centre in Pusat Kebudayaan Sabah in Penampang said they did not have to pay, but her family member who was admitted in hospital for treatment did not have to pay as he is eligible for support under the MySalam scheme,” Jannie said, adding that she is thankful the Pakatan Harapan government introduced the MySalam scheme on January 1, 2019.
Jannie said the MCO will indeed create hardship for people, so it is the duty of the government to ensure the funds approved by parliament and the Sabah State Assembly recently to help all affected economically will reach the people in an expedient manner, and is free of corruption and discrimination.
“The funds that were approved should cover food aid and financial support for the rakyat, aside from measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, and to treat those infected.
“As a wakil rakyat from the Opposition, I will do my duty to monitor the GRS government and relevant government agencies closely to ensure that MCO is wellimplemented and that the rakyat is well-informed,” Jannie added.