KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is of the view that the Movement Control Order (MCO) period cannot be lifted yet as it will take a long time to end the war against Covid-19.
He said he believed that it was not easy to stop the Covid-19 pandemic in a short term even though a vaccine could be found in the future and even then, at least six months were needed to see its effectiveness.
In this regard, he said he believed that at this point in time, there could be no fixed timeline to declare Malaysia completely free of the deadly outbreak.
“I am of the view that we will be facing this outbreak for a long time and we cannot determine when the MCO should be lifted as a vaccine has yet to be found which means that the virus can still spread.
“There is no specific date to say that we will be free because I am sure that to overcome this outbreak there are things that need to be prioritised and things that can be delayed.
“Coming up with a vaccine will also require some time of at least 18 months with its effectiveness to be known in six months...so these need time,” he said today.
Dr Mahathir said this in a talk show with Sunway Medical Centre Velocity respiratory specialist and general physician Dr Nurul Yaqeen Mohd Esa via a live telecast broadcast on his Facebook page.
The former prime minister also said that in the current situation, “trial and error” was among the approaches applied, to see whether the implementation of the initiative could work in dealing with Covid-19 since this was the first time the country was facing such threats.
“Steps are taken one at a time and studies on the effectiveness must be conducted, for example, being able to leave the house but wearing a face mask is a must and time is needed in the decision on whether to end MCO or to maintain it, as we all are still in the trial process.
“Thorough and careful research need to be made because let’s say if there is a decline in economic activity and we end the MCO, then what if the outbreak develops again like what happened in Sweden...so this is all through ‘trial and error’. If our actions turn things for the worst, then the decision needs to be reversed,” he said.
Besides that, Dr Mahathir said the main factor of success achieved by countries like China and Korea in containing the outbreak was not dependant on the facilities and medical modernisation, but the discipline and obedience of its citizens to the lockdown enforcement.
In contrast to Europe and the United States of America, the death toll is so high as the people there were more concerned about human rights and freedom that they have to pay a very high price with record of deaths numbering in tens of thousands.
“They think they are more advanced and much further along but despite their advances, their attitude is the main factor in the high number of cases, unlike China and Korea, in which its citizens are highly disciplined and their adherence to the order made them successful in containing the infection,” he said.