Editorial:

The Prayut government’s performance against Covid-19 has been so uninspiring a netizen recently posted: “When I feel down, I listen to Singapore’s PM Lee Hsien Loong and pretend that he was speaking to me.”

Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-ocha on Sunday called for calm as fears over the coronavirus outbreak deepened. Thailand reported 33 new cases on Monday, the biggest jump in infections in a single day bringing the total to 147.

He told people the situation has not reached the stage where they need to stockpile food. The result? Superstores became crowded with panicked shoppers while food and necessities including instant noodles, canned food and sanitary items disappeared from shelves.

Confidence in the country’s leadership has plunged so low it that has become a crisis in itself.

In his Sunday address, PM Gen Prayut assured citizens that the government will be rolling out necessary measures as the outbreak develops.

Alas, what the PM mentioned — mobile applications to monitor the spread, closing down entertainment venues, boxing stadiums and sports arenas — are all behind the curve.

What is the point of the government coming up with yet another app when private citizens fed up with the state’s inefficiency have already devleoped a few that work well?

Why bother with closing nightspots or boxing stadiums now? A dozen or so people have already become infected there. These venues must close anyway.

What about a larger issue like border control? The calls to bar foreigners arriving from high-risk countries have been loud and clear but the government continues to ignore them.

Considering the rapid rise in confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country and the continued spread of the deadly virus around the globe, sealing the country off from risky arrivals should be a priority — that is if the government cares for the health of Thais more than further lossees in tourism revenue.

What has held it up so far?

And what else is in store now people have gone into panic mode? Nobody seems to know. What is the government’s strategy for battling the outbreak? What will the screening policy be as infections progress?

Where can people get treatment? Will there be enough facilities? What about shelters for suspected cases? Help for those who need to go into self-isolation? And what help can the government offer to businesses to prevent them being gradually forced to shut down. These are the issues the PM should have addressed in his speech on Sunday. What can we look forward to, not what should have been done.

Worse than the PM spewing useless yesterday’s news is his telling the public not to accuse his team of being slow.

He said his government had to take into account all ramifications and impacts while trying to take care of both Thais and foreigners.

That is absolutely no excuse. All governments have to do exactly that but they don’t suffer as much criticism. His has not only been slow but disorganised, inefficient and seemingly uncaring. While other nations declared a state of emergency, we Thais should have announced a state of national disarray.

Doctors and nurses have turned to bloggers to help provide them with surgical masks. Citizens warned one another of where confirmed cases were found and places they visited. All the while, the government appears keener to use its resources to witch-hunt those who criticise its performance or punish officials who make it lose face by complaining about insufficient masks.

Even now, the public is still in the dark about what happened to the 200-million masks that the Commerce Minister boasted we had in stock in late January.

Who stole the masks? Transferring the Internal Trade Department chief is again too little and too late. The PM must reveal what went on in his administration that caused an already dangerous health crisis to worsen.

The spike in confirmed Covid-19 cases and the rapidly increasing number of people waiting for test results as well as those under monitoring indicates that the country is reaching a tipping point in disease control.

The government’s responses so far have been sorely inadequate. The PM must stop being in denial and face up to the worrying reality.

This deepening crisis demands that professionals take over. The PM’s team of amateurs should step aside and call for doctors, public health specialists, crisis managers, hospital directors and public communication experts — the best that the country has in these relevant fields — to come together and help it cope with the imminent health threat.

We don’t have a lot of breathing space left.

‘‘ While other nations declared a state of emergency, we Thais should have announced a state of national disarray.