Malaysia cannot afford another lockdown: Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia cannot afford, in terms of economy and welfare, to implement a lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today. 

He said that on the other hand, the government’s strategy to contain the pandemic is focused on mitigation.

“There is no doubt that China’s approach (to enforce a lockdown) has been effective.

Tidak dinafikan pendekatan China berkesan. Namun strategi mereka iaitu ‘containment’ atau ‘zero COVID’ bermaksud total lockdown bila ada hanya tiga kes positif. Malaysia tidak mampu dari segi ekonomi & kebajikan rakyat untuk lockdown. Strategi kita ‘mitigation. https://t.co/jjGXovLIJz pic.twitter.com/Fz5pPx5huC

— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) January 9, 2022

“However, their containment and ‘Zero Covid’ strategy also means a total lockdown (is enforced) when there are only three positive cases,” Khairy said in a tweet today. 

In his tweet, Khairy also attached a screenshot of a news report headlined “Yuzhou: Second Chinese city forced into Covid lockdown”.

Khairy said Malaysia, after having successfully achieved high vaccination rates, had managed its Covid-19 cases effectively, and has been constantly reminding the people to continue to adhere to standard operating procedures to ensure the fatality rate, use of intensive care units and hospital admissions can be reduced. 

He also expressed his full support for Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah to continue his duties as health director-general. 

His response follows Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing’s statement on Facebook today questioning Dr Noor Hisham’s background and expertise as a surgeon, not being in the field of public health. – Bernama, January 9, 2022