Quit, Pua tells Adham, as Covid-19 cases hit 5-figure

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: An opposition MP has called for health minister Dr Adham Baba’s resignation after the “disastrous escalation” of Covid-19 cases yesterday, despite a lockdown that has been in place since May 16.

Yesterday, Malaysia reported a record 11,079 new cases, shattering the previous high of 9,353 just two days earlier.

“It beggars belief that the country has been in a lockdown mode for more than eight weeks now and yet the number of Covid-19 positive cases appears to be running out of control,” Damansara MP Tony Pua said in a statement today.

Pua said Adham and the Perikatan Nasional-led government had “wasted the sacrifice of the people” because they had failed to play their role to contain the spread of the virus.

He said the most obvious evidence of this failure was the fact that the health ministry had conducted fewer tests despite the increase in positive rates.

Based on World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendations, any positivity rate above 5% is deemed too high and actions must be taken before any reopening of the economic and social sectors are recommended.

Citing data from the health ministry, Pua pointed out that the total number of cases tested declined consistently from average daily samples of 109,601 (May 23 to May 29) to 72,308 cases (June 20 to June 26), a drop of 34%.


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