MALAYSIA COVID-19 UPDATE | March 23, 2020
We’re doing everything sensible we can here in Malaysia - everything closed except for essential services like medical, dental (emergencies only), restaurants (takeaway only), supermarkets, grocery stores, pharmacies, transport, and etc.
Farmers markets and nightmarkets banned. All events banned. People are to stay at home, indoors.
There is a RM1 million fine and 1 year jail sentence for breaking this partial lockdown
https://youtu.be/HpDK1JMk78U
but so far people are only being “advised,” nobody charged yet although there have been rumours of people “kena tangkap” - “being caught.” Not sure if this means some people have been isolated for screening or what.
We need people to stop being belligerent and self-centred. This is due to a communications failure because people are only being told what to do and what not to do. What is missing is the rationale and importance and implications of non-compliance. Once people understand, they “get it” and will comply. More needs to be done in this area, not just in Malay, English, Chinese, Tamil but also In Bangla, Burmese, Nepali and Indonesian. We have a large illiterate and largely uneducated foreign worker community that has still to get the message, all potential vectors because of their blissful ignorance of what’s going on.
We have a new Health Minister since March 10, an unmitigated imbecile who was on national TV telling people to drink warm water to kill the virus. He’s now an international laughing stock. I told the stupid bugger off on his FB Page. See screenshot. Also:
https://www.facebook.com/497510250297117/posts/2795517687163017/
His is a medical graduate from the University of Malaya - buat malu warga UM aje. No postgraduate training as far as I can determine. Was in private practice before he became a politician.
See:
https://ms.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adham_Baba
Police road blocks 24x7 everywhere. Cars with >2 pax asked to turn back. Military deployed to assist Police. Only head of household allowed to go out to buy groceries, one pax per household. This is just advisory, not enough resources to enforce.
The restriction of movement has good initial results although the cases are still going up. It is not going up exponentially. See graph comparing with Italy.
PM threatened to extend the Movement Control Order (MCO) beyond March 31 or impose a curfew if people do not comply and the number of new cases keeps rising.
Ex-PM is in self-quarantine as he had posed for a photo with an MP from Sarawak who later tested positive.
The Health Minister is now too embarrassed to meet the Press and the DG of Health gave the briefing yesterday:
https://youtu.be/zklq6BxUcEU
About half our 1,306 cases are associated with just one cluster, a gathering from Feb 27 to March 1 of 17,000 missionaries from all over South-East Asia. Many overseas attendees returned to their respective countries exporting the virus there, including Cambodia, Brunei, Sulawesi, Philippines. The Cambodian Prime Minister is very angry as they got 80 cases from this cluster. Brunei got the first cases in their country from this cluster:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc02W2bVckyYLJ25FfmHMgljx
The government has 272 ICU beds dedicatec to COVID-19; target is 300. We have 950 ventilators in the whole country with 450 on order, including 350 from China. We have designated 26 govt hospitals solely to treat COVID-19 with another 6 “hybrid hospitals” to treat COVID-19 as well as other diseases.
Patients are categories into 4 stages:
Stage 1 - Postive, asymptomatic
Stage 2 - Postive, mild symptoms
Patients in above categories are isolated in designated govt quarantine centres until they recover and virus-free. So far, we have 139 cases recovered (10.6%).
Stage 3
Patients who are positive, with pneumonia, and require ventilation. They are in isolation wards in hospital
Stage 4
Positive, with pneumonia, and require both ventilation and intubation - they are in ICUs in hospital
The number of deaths have risen to 10. Percentage-wise, 0.76%, it seems deceptively low compared to the global average of 4.25%. The mortality rate will rise if patients being treated die or if our healthcare system gets overwhelmed by new cases. If there are more cases than the 1,450 ventilators or 300 ICU beds, doctors will have no choice but to play god and decide who gets a ventilator or ICU bed, as it what is already happening in Italy and Spain, and, soon, in the UK.
You can help avoid us playing out this scenario by subordination of self - put aside your self-centred immediate needs and embrace the collective objective. Do as you’re told, even if you don’t understand the logic just yet. You can learn later. Right now we need you to just stay home and go out only for an hour at most once every few days to get groceries, food or medications. Reduce your risk exposure as much as possible.
We have a nationwide shortage of face masks and the government has ordered 10 million. In govt dental clinics, dental surgeons have been instructed to wear the same mask for the whole day (supposed to change before each new patient or every hour); because of the shortage, priority is for masks to be allocated to their medical colleagues. This shortage came about because people had the mistaken notion that face masks can help prevent them from being infected. Again, a miscommunication issue.
See Face Masks:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc00qU9JQoSNtVd_XuX5Wa4dE
Because people who didn’t need them went out and bought them by the millions, the people who really need them don’t have enough. I’m not saying these people are bloody stupid selfish idiots, just that were misinformed, result of a communications failure by the powers-that-be.
Malaysia COVID-19 News Videos are archived here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc01POA-_si6iNzW9lP0cc-GV
and
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc02MuX3m6-RpioFRNjkIGHA4
I’m at home except for a 30-minute grocery run every few days. Been juicing with turmeric, ginger, citrus, carrot, tomatoes, guava daily to boost my antioxidant intake and keep my immunity optimsed. Been posting my recipe videos,
http://bit.ly/DrinksbyAzlan
it keeps me occupied (I see as occupational therapy) although YouTube and Facebook can be frustratingly slow half the time.
I’ve been learning all I can, I see it as a form of cognitive behavioural therapy. The more informed and educated we are, the better choices and decisions we can make. In decision science, decision-making is predicated on having complete, relevant, accurate and timely information. Unlike economists, we do not have the luxury of perfect knowledge, so we have to continuously keep learning. The more we learn, the more we can improve the situation we are in.
Information on COVID-19 for clinicians
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ_IRFkDInv_zLVFTgXA8tW0Mf1iiuuM_
Official WHO YouTube Playlist on Coronavirus
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9S6xGsoqIBU2V6AZYGlJwZRAFJ3YDreb
Social Distancing
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc00yw2_wtO96wecHXujXIiFc
Flatten the Curve
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc01o5kSyezpewnT6tDIrcMrj
Educational Videos for General Public
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc01YVosKsqk-QvsJfiyvgquA
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc00Ob9NX-EKHsqbD0Q05Vcrz
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc00r03QJsXrM0X7gh-PRUU_A
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUFaG5zEkc0298BnAzuwUw1wHfBy6dzhN
Everything I have learnt about Covid-19 and fit for public consumption is archived in this photo album:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2230537040501514/permalink/2519202174968331/
See the links in the photo description and comments.
#lockdown
#socialdistancing
#minumairsuam
#kepalahotakbapakhanglah
#eatmarchhealthier
#marchtohealth
Copyright 2003-2011 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice Copyright 2003-2011 Azlan Adnan. This blog post is sponsored by The Green Party of Malaysia
