THE Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) sees no need to declare a national emergency but Sabah’s healthcare system in the fight against Covid-19 is in dire need of help.

All other areas under conditional movement control order (CMCO) – including Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya – are under control and should improve with current measures in place.

Urgent and massive financial aid from the federal government is needed to control the situation in Sabah or there may be a total collapse of the healthcare system.

Widespread community transmissions of Covid-19 infections may be escalating state-wide rapidly.

The daily numbers reported may be much less than actual numbers considering the delays in reporting test results, contact tracing and isolation of infected people.

Bed occupancy is reaching full capacity in most hospitals in Sabah and in some areas, less severe cases of Covid-19 have to be isolated and home treatment instituted.

We are deeply concerned that the more severe cases of Covid-19 might increase further. Sabah ‘s infection and death rate is many-fold above the national rate.

It was reported that frontliners there are on the verge of throwing in the towel due to fatigue, mental stress and an acute shortage in manpower.

More healthcare workers are urgently needed. We urge the government to consider engaging more help from public healthcare facilities from other states with low numbers of Covid-19 cases.

We noted that significant numbers of redeployed staff come from within the state itself rather than from interstate, which may not increase Sabah’s total healthcare workforce.

Cases are expected to continue to be high in Sabah as a backlog in test results are being cleared.

An urgent boost from the government is needed on the issue of limited testing capacity including engaging private sectors and interstate’s resources.

This delay in testing turnover time severely affected the system’s ability to contact trace contacts and isolate infected individuals at the same time preventing further spread of the infections.

Now is the time for scientific, practical, co-ordinated solutions to the situation nationwide and not a time for political squabbles that improve nothing.

All Malaysians should unite in the war against Covid-19, especially for the people of Sabah. The situation there is serious and the state needs all the help it can get in terms of personal protective equipment, medical equipment and financial aid for healthcare needs.

An increase in hospital bed strength and testing capacity is also urgently needed.

Unlike peninsular Malaysia, Sabah has only nine public hospitals.

Access to public healthcare for many Sabahans affected can also be a challenge due to its vast land area, unforgiving terrain and sheer quantity of remote locations and.

We urge the federal government to speed up the emergency funds and all related aid needed to mitigate the situation in Sabah.

We also strongly appeal to all leaders, regardless of political affiliations and the whole nation to come together for Sabah and do our best.

Every minute of delay in this mission for Sabah is putting the whole nation at risk of unmitigated national disaster that may go down as one of the darkest chapters since the birth of this nation. – October 25, 2020.

* Prof Dr Subramaniam Muniandy is president of the Malaysian Medical Association.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.