KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today that he had to venture out of the Klang Valley, which is under the conditional movement control order (CMCO), to perform his duty as prime minister, among others, to find out how the people and businesses are coping with the impact of Covid-19.
Muhyiddin said he had to do this to get a good feel of the Covid-19 situation but would always abide by the standard operating procedure (SOP) to curb the spread of the disease.
The prime minister stressed that he had been tested 21 times for Covid-19 so far.
“Yesterday, I underwent a test for the 21st time. I was tested on my return from Sabah, everywhere I went I had to be tested on my return; I was tested before attending Parliament, tested before having an audience with the Agong and was tested before Cabinet meetings,” he added.
He said this at a meet-the-people session with the Chinese community and Chinese non-governmental organisations in Pagoh here.
Muhyiddin, who is Pagoh Member of Parliament, said as the country was grappling with the third wave of Covid-19, the government’s main concern was to ensure that the national economy continues to move, the people could get jobs and the pandemic could be eradicated.
While hinting that stronger measures might be taken if positive Covid-19 cases keep increasing, he gave an assurance that the government was prepared to continue spending to ensure the people’s well-being and welfare.
“If we have to spend billions to look after the people we will do so; to us the important thing is to end Covid-19. I don’t know how long it will drag on, maybe six months, one year but our frontliners have been fully stretched working day and night.
“Our doctors have to soldier on despite being exhausted, the police have been working very hard, our soldiers have been redeployed from jungles to towns, all the other frontliners have also slogged for months.
“So, what should we do? For the sake of our frontliners, don’t wait for the doctors to look after us; we have to look after ourselves,” he said.
He also touched on the government’s ongoing efforts to secure Covid-19 vaccines from several countries, including China which has placed Malaysia on its priority list of buyers once the vaccine is available in the market.
Muhyiddin said the government was working every day to manage matters related to Covid-19, and he himself was chairing meetings of the National Security Council and Economic Action Council daily.
“Given the commitment of the Perikatan Nasional government, InsyaAllah, when we table Budget 2021 we will find ways to help solve the people’s problems; we surely can spend more.
“When we spend more now our deficit will rise, but people say regardless of whether the deficit goes up or not, we must protect the people’s lives,” he said. — Bernama
