EXPECT Malaysia to overtake Covid-19 epicentre China in the number of cumulative cases soon, said DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.

“Malaysia reported 1,371 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, and we are on the verge of overtaking China in cumulative total of Covid-19 cases.

“With 84,846 cases, Malaysia is ranked No. 80 among countries in the world with the most number of Covid-19 cases, while China, with a population more than 40 times greater than Malaysia, is ranked No. 79 with 86,741 cases,” he said in a statement this morning.

At press time, the cumulative number of cases in China is 86,758.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said Malaysia can expect to overtake China either today or tomorrow.

Malaysia has been recording more than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases daily since late November, except for a dip on December 2 when 851 cases were recorded, and on December 12 with 959 cases.

The country’s highest daily record so far is 2,234 new cases on December 10.

The following day, Malaysia crossed the 80,000 threshold with 1,810 new infections.

“Malaysia on the verge of overtaking China in the number of Covid-19 cases is a black mark for the Muhyiddin government and on the public health system in Malaysia, and should be cause for Malaysians to take the Covid-19 pandemic with greater seriousness,” Lim said.

He added that he was disappointed that Dewan Rakyat, which is currently in session, had failed to establish a select committee on Covid-19 to conduct public hearings and engagement on the best ways to fight the pandemic.

He also said the country’s high numbers were a failure of Putrajaya to adopt an “all of government” and “whole of society” strategy in fighting the pandemic.

Various groups, particularly medical associations, have urged Putrajaya to tap the resources of private healthcare facilities which are deemed “under-utilised” at the moment in terms of fighting Covid-19. 

These facilities could be used in further expansion of virus screening and treatment to take the burden off public hospitals. – December 15, 2020.