Malaysia has been under the Movement Control Order (MCO) since 18 March. The Order was originally to have been implemented up to 31 March, but it has since been extended up to 14 April. However, many Malaysians are now predicting that it will be extended up to at least the end of April, if not beyond that. If it is indeed extended, it shows that the MCO has not been very effective against the Covid-19.
Now the biggest problem with the Covid-19, apart from having no vaccine, is that there is an estimated incubation period of about 14 days after infection, within which the infected person may unknowingly infect others around him, even though he's not showing any symptoms of the disease. Beyond that, those other people may also do the same to others, thus the chain of infections continues.
The whole idea of the MCO is to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic by forcing, to a certain extent, people to stay at home, so that when people are isolated from each other, there is little chance for the virus to spread from infected people to others. At the same time, testing could be conducted on suspected cases, such as when people have a history of being in close contact with known infected people, or if they are showing symptoms of the disease. If the tests are found to be positive, then they can be quarantined, thus preventing the virus from spreading. In theory, that seems like a sound strategy. But in Malaysia, so far it doesn't seem to be working very well, if at all.
I don't proclaim myself to be an expert in crisis management. But whenever I'm faced with a problem—any type of problem, not necessarily just dealing with the Covid-19—especially if it's a new problem to me, I, too, may end up trying to solve it with a trial-and-error approach. It's always the same; I'd start with a theory and then formulate a specific step-by-step strategy in implementing that theory. If I failed to get the desired result, then logically it means that that theory is unsound. Or if I'm still convinced that it's a good theory, then it must mean that there are weaknesses in its implementation. In either case, one thing should be glaringly obvious—if an approach doesn't work once, repeating that same approach over and over again will most probably result in failure again and again. I'm thinking, extending the MCO again and again will not beat the Covid-19.
A friend shared the story of her son. He was in close contact with someone who was eventually found to have been infected with Covid-19. A few days later, he developed some of the symptoms of the disease. He then got himself tested, and while waiting for the result, decided to self-quarantine at home. The result eventually came back positive. But what's really disturbing was that it took NINE (9) DAYS to get the result. Between the time that he actually got infected up to the time when the symptoms manifested, he could have infected others around him. Some people develop no symptom whatsoever and may proceed to infect others.
I think 9 days to get the results for the Covid-19 tests is just too pathetically long. I wonder if that's how long it takes for all the Covid-19 tests throughout Malaysia, or is that just for Sabah? We need to solve this problem first. There are also many other people who were in close contact with infected people, but refusing to come forward to be tested for the disease. And let's not forget that there are still some people who are not heeding the MCO. If just a small percentage of them are positive of the disease, that's good enough to destroy the MCO strategy to fight Covid-19. The chain has not in fact been broken, and extending the MCO is bound to be in vain.
The authority should seriously find ways to achieve fast testing and quick results so that positive cases could be isolated faster; shore up enforcement of the MCO by hunting those who've been in close contact with infected people, and imposing heavier punishments upon those who're not heeding the MCO. All these should be dealt with first for the MCO to be effective.
2 comments:
I think the cost of testing is also a deterrent.
Cost is of course always an important factor, and MAY be a deterrent in this case. A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from BP Lab, informing me that they now provide Covid-19 testing at home, i.e. they will come to the house to conduct the test at a price tag of RM700 per pax. However, they can also do a group testing for a low as RM250/pax for 21-40 pax. Although I don't know the exact cost for the test kit, I will estimate that the cost is perhaps no more than RM200 per pax, because they will still have to allow for profits.
There is always the pros and cons in situations such as this. But I'm quite sure that the cost of treatment and other medicare for infected people is way higher than RM200 per pax. Those deciding on the pros and cons should seriously consider which is costlier, the cost testing for the sake of prevention, or the cost of medicare for the potentially thousands of infected people.
Post a Comment