PN 7 fatal blunders – Najib

Former prime minister Najib Razak has listed seven Covid-19 blunders that the Perikatan Nasional-led government made which have led to Malaysia becoming one of the worst affected countries in the world.

The first of the seven mistakes, Najib said, was the government’s move to allow foreigners to self-quarantine at home in June 2020.

Although it reversed the policy a month later, Najib said it was too late as a new Covid-19 variant had entered the country and created the Sivagangga cluster. This led to a surge in cases in the north.

Another mistake, Najib said, was the government’s requirement for those returning from Sabah after the state election to undergo only a three-day quarantine.

“The government made a U-turn a week later but it was too late,” he said in a Facebook post.

He also cited Putrajaya’s move to allow interstate travel and tourism activities in December 2020 when there were around 1,600 cases a day, despite the fact that Putrajaya had sought an emergency declaration when only around 500 cases were detected a day in November.

A month later, Najib said, daily cases rose beyond the 2,000 mark, resulting in the government again seeking a declaration of emergency.

Najib said the government blundered again when it reduced the quarantine period for foreigners from 14 days to seven, and then to 10 days in December 2020 when new variants were being detected.

“What is most regrettable is that the government only made a U-turn on this five months on in April 2021,” he said, adding that by then the Delta variant had entered the country.

Another blunder, Najib said, was the implementation of a “half-baked” second movement control order (MCO 2.0) where factories were allowed to operate, a mistake that was repeated in subsequent lockdowns.

“(Then) in February 2021, the government announced schools would be reopened in March when daily cases were higher compared to the start of the Emergency.”

Despite the rise in cases and school clusters, Najib said the government allowed schooling to continue, and as a result, schoolchildren who were asymptomatic ended up bringing the virus home.

The government’s latest blunder, Najib said, was waiting for intensive care unit (ICU) capacity to hit 103% before instituting a total lockdown despite warnings about the situation since April.

“This insipid move led to health systems being unable to cope. What is sad is that these moves were clearly big mistakes which did not make sense when they were carried out,” said Najib, adding he had repeatedly warned the government of these mistakes.

While Covid-19 affected the whole world, Najib said Malaysia had become among the worst hit, both in terms of the pandemic and the economy for no reason.

“Someone has to be responsible for these mistakes as they clearly do not make sense and the loss of lives caused by them (mistakes) is too big.” FMT

PN 7 fatal blunders – Najib

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