Mp Slams Sabah Govt As State Hits Record High Daily Infections Again

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Chan Foong Hin said the state government made a mistake after scrapping the health and people’s well-being ministry set up by the previous Warisan-led government.KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah MP has accused the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government of failing miserably at handling the Covid-19 situation as daily infections reached new heights today.
A total of 3,376 new cases were recorded over the past 24 hours, which is 902 more cases than yesterday’s numbers. This is also a new record high for Sabah and the first time the number of new cases breached the 3,000 mark.
Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin said the state government must realise it has fallen short in managing the pandemic, as the situation has continued to worsen from the end of July.
“We are now in deep trouble as the trend over the past few weeks seem to indicate that cases will only further skyrocket,” the state DAP secretary told FMT.
He contended that the state government made a mistake after scrapping the health and people’s well-being ministry set up by the previous Warisan-led government.
“They were wrong to abolish the health portfolio and outsource all work to the federal health ministry.
“This is on top of the (previous) Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal government’s failure to ensure adequate vaccine stock in Sabah as well as supply to the state.”
A total of 45,186 new cases were recorded between July 30 and today, with the cumulative number of cases in the state at 127,806.
Over the past five days alone, 13,877 new cases were recorded.
Chan said the “horribly slow” vaccination rate in Sabah will only lead to more infections between Category 3 and 5, adding the state’s healthcare system does not have the capacity to cope with such a surge.
“The surge in Covid-19 cases no doubt started due to the GRS government taking things too lightly,” he claimed.
He added that it was time the government started admitting it had failed miserably and take initiatives to overcome the situation.
“Stop being passive. Sabah needs more than just a Covid-19 spokesperson. We need a health minister in the state Cabinet who will be able to take drastic actions for the sake of the people,” he said.
Chan also repeated his call for an Operation Surge Capacity in the state, like the one implemented in Selangor, and for the federal government to deploy more manpower to the state.
Meanwhile, Sabah Wanita DAP chief Jannie Lasimbang wrote on Facebook that the Sabah healthcare system is on the brink of collapse as a result of the high daily infections.
“The beds in the state’s Covid-19 hospital have already exceeded 99% utilisation rate,” she claimed.
“The federal government must urgently deploy more healthcare resources to Sabah,” added the Kapayan state assemblyman.
FMT has reached out to Sabah local government and housing minister Masidi Manjun and state health director Dr Rose Nani Mudin for comment.
In his daily report, Masidi said that as of yesterday, 53.3% of Sabah’s adult population have received at least their first dose of the vaccine while 31.4% have completed both doses, which is still the lowest in the country. - FMT

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