KUALA LUMPUR: The authorities must prioritise the vaccination drive and the enforcement of standard operating procedures at the workplace, where a substantial amount of Covid-19 clusters in the country have originated, say health experts.
The experts also called for a complete restructuring of strategies to manage the outbreak, including a quarterly review of the approaches taken.
Manipal University College Malaysia Community and Occupational Medicine expert Professor Dr G. Jayakumar said a "mixed bag" of strategies should be taken, ranging from community-level to individual initiatives for the country to have the upper hand on highly-transmissible Covid-19 variants of concern.
"These include drastic steps like strictly enforced targeted total lockdown of all activities," he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
He said data from the Health Ministry on July 9 had indicated that workplace clusters formed the bulk of new clusters at 610, followed by detention centre clusters at 148 and community clusters at 52.
Statistics also showed that from Jan 25 to July 9, there were 1,445 workplace clusters compared with 616 community clusters.
"We are missing the elephant in the room. In view of the slow pace of vaccination, we need to prioritise the vaccination drive and the enforcement of SOP at workplaces, especially in the manufacturing sector, which contribute a big chunk of workplace clusters, mainly due to migrant workers who reside in poor housing."
Epidemiologist Associate Professor Dr Malina Osman said in the Klang Valley, where cases were overwhelming, there was a need for inter-sectoral collaboration with other agencies to restrategise the handling of Covid-19 patients and those in the critical stage.
She said updated measures by the Health Ministry, the armed forces and other agencies through the National Security Council, as well as the involvement of private hospitals and clinics, could resolve most issues.
"With the continuous support from other states and the public through the mobilisation of staff and donation of important facilities or equipment, we hope the situation will ease soon."
Dr Malina believed that while the healthcare system was still under control, the crisis in the Klang Valley could be averted with proper measures, including rearranging the team structure to lighten the work burden and tackle the exhaustion of healthcare workers currently handling the pandemic.
"We need a review of strategies every three months.
"All strategies would need cooperation from all stakeholders."
She said there was no need for Klang Valley to go into a complete curfew, adding that "safety bubbles" could be created depending on vaccination status as well as risk exposure.
Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said a complete lockdown in the Klang Valley would be "too painful" for the community.
"We missed the opportunity (for a lockdown) during the earlier phase. We should go on with mitigation, with focused Enhanced Movement Control Order in certain areas."
He said the healthcare system had not collapsed yet, but government hospitals and clinics were overburdened, suggesting that the authorities use more private and home-care approaches.