By Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye
Health Director General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has painted a very grim picture of the latest Covid 19 situation stating that complacency in fighting the deadly disease could result in a devastating outcome to the country and its people with the possibility of hitting 5,000 new cases daily by end May if no drastic action is taken to control the infection.
We should have seen it coming but it is upon us sooner than expected: our health system is being overwhelmed.
Both government and private hospitals have more than they can handle in terms of Covid-19 patients. Needless to say, our healthcare workers are grossly overworked.
This is an emergency the likes of which we have never seen in Malaysia, ever.
Yet, despite this onerous position, we still see people violating the basic SOPs-not wearing masks, not washing hands and not practicing physical distancing. Complacency has set in with the implementation of the national immunisation plan.
This is no time to debate over what activities are allowed and what are not. Or what should be allowed and what shouldn’t.
Let’s do a voluntary lockdown only for a specific two week period to bring down the curve and help our health aothorities to cope with the situation.
Please, let’s all rally around. Whether there is an SOP or not, let’s all do the right thing: Have no social gatherings, no religious meetings, no bazaars, no schools, no visits etc.
The only thing that we should allow ourselves is to do what it takes to remain safe. That means staying at home, eating at home, working from home.
Don’t wait for the authorities to wield the big stick. Let’s just discipline ourselves. It’s not hard to do, as we have had some experience during the first wave and lockdown last year. Lack of discipline is the major cause of the aggravating covid situation.
Let’s voluntarily lock ourselves down, until this pestilence is behind us.
Stay safe, stay safe, stay safe. There is no other exhortation more important than this at this time.
TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE
CHAIRMAN,
ALLIANCE FOR SAFE COMMUNITY.
