MUAR: The government will evaluate and refine existing strategies to combat Covid-19, says Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Prime Minister said the authorities would determine if the present methods are still effective in tackling the increase in new cases, with daily infections now surpassing the 20,000 mark.
Expressing his concerns over the spike, he said the matter would be discussed during a special National Security Council meeting which he would chair on Monday.
“We will discuss this further, especially on affected areas such as the Greater Klang Valley and states that have shown an increase in cases.
“The government will scrutinise the reasons behind the steep increase in cases. Are the steps taken no longer effective and how do we refine them?
“Do we also need to improve the process of testing and contact tracing?” he told a press conference after handing out aid under the National Food Basket programme to community leaders to be distributed to families under quarantine in Bukit Pasir here yesterday.
Muhyiddin, who is Pagoh MP, said assessments would also be made of internal issues and problems in the Health Ministry, including staff, medication and equipment needed, such as oxygen tanks.
He concurred that there were specific issues that need to be refined.
“We have given full authority to the ministry, especially the committees involved, to carry out what is necessary and they do not need to refer back to me.
“They can implement it themselves even if it involves expenses because we have allocated a budget for the Health Ministry and the Greater Klang Valley Special Task Force,” he added.
He also said that based on the data from the ministry, most of the new Covid-19 cases were in categories One and Two while for categories Three, Four and Five, which are severe cases, the percentage was under 1.2%.
He said for now, it is important to ensure that existing hospitals are able to provide facilities such as intensive care units and other amenities to accommodate the increase in cases.
Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 20,889 new cases, bringing the total number to over 1.2 million cases.
