March 26 — January 25, Malaysia recorded its 1st Covid 19 case.
Seven weeks later on March 17, we had our first Covid death.
The next day, March 18, the prime minister (PM) declare the movement control order (MCO) for two weeks till March 31.
On March 25, the MCO is extended for a total of four weeks till April 14.
Two months after Malaysia recorded its first case, we have 1,796 Covid-19 cases and 19 deaths.
Malaysia may not hit its peak cases yet and the end of this pandemic doesn't seem too near in sight.
The world today had now 418,935 cases and 18,727 deaths.
Italy has now the highest number of deaths in the world at 6,820 and we can see on CNN news showing army trucks after trucks taking away coffins for burial of those who died from Covid infections.
Many of the deaths are elderly or those having multiple other diseases.
It's really a very sad and lonely deaths for many with the last faces they see doctors or nurses with their unseen faces hidden behind layers of Face visors, mask and astronaut like hazmet suits or worse dying alone.
This pandemic is unprecedented in our lifetime that the world had never seen before.
So we all need to step up and do our parts as failure is Not an option.
It's so encouraging and heartwarming to see so many are doing so much.
We see the Ministry of Health from public health front liners, those running the Covid-19 wards to the director-general himself working tirelessly with steely resolve.
We see our PM mustering the political will to implement the MCO and mobilising all agencies.
We even see our King personally urging every Malaysian to stay home on national television.
We also see him going to the ground to see for himself the smooth running of the MCO.
We see officials of all levels working overtime and going beyond the call of duty to answer queries, attend to urgent agendas even up to midnight and beyond.
We see communities helping to provide food to those in need or supporting each other through this challenging times.
So make no mistake Malaysia, this pandemic is changing permanently the way we live and for once make the world realise that we all are vulnerable despite how much we advanced in science or how high the sky scraper we built or how fast our planes can fly.
But we can do more, each and everyone of us for our diversity and resilience is going to be our strength in defeating this pandemic.
So if you are a politician, I urge you to close ranks, discard the political divide and work with everyone.
You need to help coordinate more coherently official efforts, rescue packages and increasing the very much needed medical supplies. You need to help dismantle redtape and impasse to enable speedy access to areas of needs.
You need to accept all feedbacks, positive or negative with an open heart and work towards addressing the deficiencies and scaling up what works.
You need to act with speed for time is not on our side and you need to go to the ground and see for yourself what the public are facing.
You need also to realise what is not your expertise and gather the all experts to assist regardless of where they are from.
If you are a government official, I urge you to do every thing within your capacity to assist in the efforts and facilitate requests or meeting the needs of those suffering from the Unintended consequences of this devastating pandemic.
I also urge you to think outside the box and not let bureaucracy or heirachy stop you from doing what is critically needed.
I also urge you to accept help from all quarters as long as they are offered in good faith and work together for the better good.
If you are health care professional whether from government or private, I urge you to do every thing you can within your capacity to help the situation even if it means sharing some of your facemask supplies with another colleague who run out or educate your patients, family and friends about social distancing measures.
I also urge all Doctors to come together, stop finding faults with each other and continue to work & support each other to defeat this invisible enemy.
If you are a professional, I urge you to see in your area of expertise how you can help in this pandemic like how a lawyer can advise on protection of healthcare workers from patients not telling the truth or an engineer who can help to see how we can turn dormant buildings into quarantine centres or more care and testing facilities.
If you are a member of the public, I urge you to stay home and practise social distancing and hand hygiene techniques.
I also urge you to help any other way you can like encouraging everyone else to do the same, cheering your friends up over the phone or online for those suffering from boredom or stress because of the MCO.
We all can do more and we all can take that little extra step to prove that Malaysian will come together in this never seen before pandemic without any regard to race, religions , political affiliations beliefs or socio — economic strata.
So step up Malaysians, we shall overcome.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
