THE special select committee on health, science and innovation has concluded that the country is not yet ready for a full transition to Covid-19 endemicity based on data provided by the Health Ministry.

Committee chairman Dr Kelvin Yii, who is the Bandar Kuching MP, said the members met yesterday to discuss the reports of the Health and Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministries as well as the views of the health and sciences Covid-19 advisory group of experts.

“Based on data provided by the ministry, the committee made the conclusion that we are NOT READY to transition fully until all the necessary steps are taken including increasing our public health capacity, integrating technology and digitalisation into our public health approach, and mainstreaming our national Covid-19 immunisation programme to give as much protection especially to high-risk groups,” Yii said in a statement.

The committee has forwarded 10 recommendations for the government “to focus on and invest in before our country is ready to transition fully, safely, and sustainably”.

Among them is to increase public health capacity, particularly the capacity to find, test, trace, isolate, and support,  for potential infection surges after the easing of restrictions, and better preparedness for future pandemics. 

“This includes increasing ICU capacities in all states to provide good quality of care and reduce death rates in case of a surge of cases,” Yii said.

On top of that, Yii said a comprehensive national testing strategy is important to facilitate a safe transition and provide guidance on testing frequency for all sectors.

Another key recommendation is for the government to adopt the “whole of government, whole of nation approach” .

It should not be a matter solely for the Health Ministry to resolve, he added.

Technology integration and an improved MySejahtera are required to “to fasten the process of hotspot identification, contact tracing, notifications, and quarantine monitoring”, he said.

“This is important to identify the problem before it happens and do the necessary interventions or control the situation if there is a possible surge especially in view of loosening of restrictions and resuming of inter-state travels.

“Such a comprehensive strategy is important to do localised control in case of an outbreak so that we do not depend on nationwide full lock down strategy which is not effective and sustainable as it has a high economic cost,” he said. – November 2, 2021.