OPPOSITION lawmakers have chided the Perikatan Nasional government over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the need for another nationwide movement-control order (MCO 3.0).

They said it simply showed the government lacked a proper strategy to tackle the pandemic and instead resorted to cycles of MCOs.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad said many Malaysians, who have expressed their views on social media, felt Putrajaya was clueless on how to handle the Covid-19 pandemic here.

“The government seemed clueless as to what it is doing. There is no clear strategy and it seems that the MCOs are just being announced and implemented as a ritual with no clear objective of what is to be achieved.

“Some of the standard operating procedure (SOP) make no sense while others are completely ridiculous. The MCOs are not targeted and do not attempt to deal with the problem at the source,” the Amanah lawmaker told The Malaysian Insight.

MCO 3.0 began yesterday, when daily cases hit 4,765, the highest in a single day since January 31, when cases were above 5,000.

Before this, cases had trended above 2,000, then 3,000 and 4,000, for a few weeks, less than a month after Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin promised there would be no more nationwide lockdowns.

MCO 3.0 is until June 7, and restricts inter-district and interstate travel, social activities, sports and education, except for outdoor exercising with social distancing in place.

However, almost all economic activities, except spas, nightclubs and entertainment centres, are allowed to operate with SOP in place, except restaurants and food businesses cannot have dine-ins and can only serve meals through takeaways or deliveries.

Khalid, who is also chairman of the Committee for Ending the Emergency Declaration, criticised the current state of emergency, calling it politically motivated instead of its stated reason to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah said the government needs to prioritise fighting the virus and implementing proper SOP since economic activities and some religious activities are still allowed.

“If you allow for economic activities, then you have to come up with clearer SOP. You are still gathering workers at industries.

“If you do gather people, everybody needs to be tested before they enter into the premises, on a weekly basis. Then you can track (the spread of the virus) faster,” she said.

The former Bersih 2.0 chairman said the same should also be implemented for those who are allowed to attend gatherings at mosques.

“While we want to curb social gatherings, we are not curbing those at mosques and surau.

“Even though they follow the SOP, it’s not only about social distancing, but also about coming into contact with the virus through other means.”

MCO 3.0 allows for Hari Raya Aidilfitri prayers at mosques or surau, limited to 50 for mosques with more than 1,000 capacity and 20 for those with a capacity of fewer than 1,000.

Maria also urged the government and all relevant ministries to communicate properly and think through their decisions before making public announcements, so that the public does not get confused.

“(They need to) tackle the virus, not think about pleasing certain groups, because in the end, we please nobody.

“When they are not clear (with the SOP) the people suffer and they have to pay a fine because they don’t even know whether they are violating the SOP or not.

“You penalise the people because of your lack of clarity and that is unjust,” she said.

Maria, however, said MCO 3.0 could work in flattening the curve provided the SOP is stricter and the government communicates better with the public.

Better communication needed

On communication, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng said he had urged the government to assign only one spokesman on Covid-19 matters, including vaccination, quarantine, SOP and MCOs.

“This is to prevent further confusion as the country has already been confused for one year.”

Another DAP lawmaker, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, said the government has handled the pandemic in a disorganised manner.

“Announcements are made without proper consultation and thinking, causing a series of flip-flops, which have made the government a laughing stock.

“Because communication is unclear, people are openly defying the MCO by going to the city centre and then going back to their hometowns. The MCO might not be effective as the government intends it to be.”

Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil asked if the reason for poor communication with the public is firstly, due to poor coordination between ministers, or if they had no communication strategy.

“We wonder who is advising the government? How are they making these decisions? What is their basis for the decision-making?

“Do they have access to data scientists? Do they have a clear picture?

“Any decision has to be based on science, data and evidence. It has to be thought through clearly before it is communicated.”

Have strategic approaches

Former health minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said strategic approaches are needed that go beyond merely adhering to SOP.

Strategies are needed to address both the sporadic, unlinked cases (community transmissions) as well as infections occurring at the workplace, detention centres, old folks’ homes and school clusters.

“We must ‘outpace’ the rate of transmission of the virus by achieving faster finding, tracing and testing with immediate isolation to prevent infections,” said Dzulkefly, who heads Selangor’s task force on Covid-19.

Strategic thinking is also required, more so as the country wants to open up the economy and social activities to preserve livelihoods, yet it must also continue to stay on guard, he added.

PKR’s Fahmi added that the state of emergency imposed to control the pandemic had clearly not worked.

“Now, three and a half months later, it’s clear and evident to all Malaysians, data scientists, public health experts that the measures PN had put in place with the emergency powers has failed to stop the spread of Covid-19.”

Fahmi added that there is no sense of urgency by the government to provide additional support for those affected by movement restrictions.

“When they close malls and supermarkets and impose the work from home policy, we don’t hear about any additional support for these small and medium enterprises as well as traders around the city.

“How are they going to survive?”

Fahmi also called for Parliament to reconvene as the government alone is unable handle the pandemic effectively.

“If we just leave it to those in Putrajaya right now, it’s evidently not enough. Call back Parliament, let’s sit down and form a special task force so better decision-making can take place.” – May 13, 2021.