THE Covid-19 pandemic was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The virus has killed approximately 11,000 Malaysians and four million people globally. What are the epidemic progression, challenges and response in Malaysia? This issue can be analysed from “STEP” aspects namely Sociological, Technological, Economic and Political.


Sociological

We were so proud of our MCO 1.0 total lockdown. The government’s movement control order (MCO) 1.0 was first imposed from March 18 to May 3, 2020. The country’s border remained closed and only travellers with approval from relevant agencies were allowed to enter the country.

The action taken by the ruling government was well received where the rakyat and the business communities largely adhered strictly to the standard operating procedures (SOP), where only essential services were allowed to operate. It was effective and we were praised by our neighbouring countries, including the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The feeling of overconfidence and complacency set in among the communities and policymakers. We thought we were free and safe, and all aspects could be managed. However, the SOP which were introduced were later not strictly followed; enforcement was lacking, there were double standards of enforcement and the attitudes of the rakyat, such as balik kampung and crossing state borders, were apparent.

A study by Arina Azlan et.al. titled “Public knowledge, attitude and practices towards Covid-19: A cross-sectional study in Malaysia stated that “The knowledge, attitudes and practices people hold the diseases play an integral role in determining a society’s readiness to accept behavioural changes from health authority.”

The effectiveness of these mitigation measures is highly dependent on cooperation and compliance of all members of society. But sadly, we have failed to overcome this problem.

With a non-compliant rakyat, Malaysia now has the highest coronavirus infections per capita than anywhere in Asia, as reported by the New York Times.


Technological

The government’s weaknesses in managing the pandemic emerged: Slow to decide what types of vaccines, the issues of pricing, volume, deliveries and vaccine storage in an ultra-cold freezer, while other countries had started inoculating. The wait-and-see approach created uncertainty within the government and the rakyat. The country’s vaccination programme started on Feb 24 this year, with a target of at least 23.6 million people to be vaccinated by February 2022, which was ambitious but the statistics have improved tremendously.

The purchase of vaccines is a profitable business. Soon, the integrity of procurement started to set in. Transparency is critical in an emergency. Any compromise involving rules and regulations can lead to abuse of the public procurement process - direct negotiations can result in higher risk of conflict of interest and failure to deliver vital medical supplies.

The vaccine delivery system was dysfunctional, with lack of coordination coupled with ineffective implementation. When Parliament was closed due to the emergency imposed in the country, there was no thorough check-and-balance on vaccination costs and the stimulus packages that amounted to RM530 billion. The only minister that appeared to be doing a good job was Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.


Economic

The rakyat was badly affected economically. The country lost RM2.4 billion daily throughout the implementation of the MCO 1.0. People started to lose their livelihoods due to downsizing and lay-offs of employees. Small and medium enterprises (SME) could not operate as they were classified as non-essential: The result is most SME now have closed and have wound up; are closing and are winding-up; or being restructured. Trade associations are confused on government directives and with unclear SOP.

Brigadier-General Dr Mohd Arshil Moideen acknowledged that the lack of integrated action, the absence of “unified action” and “coordination” from the top down were the reasons the country is unable to beat the current Covid-19 wave.

After that, despite a series of MCOs, the rakyat could not care less and did not follow the SOP due to the loss of livelihood and economic downturn. Many had no money even to buy food and no place to stay as many industry sectors were closed. Further to this, the government announced a total lockdown at the end of May.

In line with this, the government introduced many initiatives – Pemudah, Pemulih, I-sinar etc, but these initiatives are not sustainable in the long term. The strategies are not fully working as companies and the rakyat are still suffering, and this has hurt the economy.

The government must find ways to balance the need to restore the country’s economy and curb the Covid-19 pandemic.

Political

Besides the health crisis, we are also facing leadership, integrity and corruption crises. Despite calls to focus on curbing the Covid-19 pandemic, political parties and politicians are still on a tug-a-war on who is a better leader for the country. We have been in a state of political turmoil for months.


Government’s efforts

Now the momentum of vaccination is getting pervasive and mobile. Donation of vaccines are pouring in from Saudi Arabia, Japan, the UK and other countries. Vaccination Centres are mushrooming with walk-in capabilities, which should have been started earlier. “Movak”, or mobile vaccination units, are in place for us to achieve the “herd immunity” target as advised by WHO. A total of 25 million vaccine doses have been administered to date.

The people have expressed relief over the government’s latest decision to relax the SOP. The question is how are we going to overcome the “Delta” variant despite aiming for a vaccination rate of 500 thousand doses daily target.

We thank all frontliners for tirelessly taking care of our communities every day. It is hoped that when the pandemic is finally brought under control and the general situation has improved, the government will quickly focus on igniting economic activities and normal life with SOP.

The rakyat has to play their part in adhering to self-protection modes and be civic-minded. A government-rakyat collaboration will help bring our country back on track.


Datuk Seri Akhbar Satar is president of the Malaysia Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.