Carmelo Ferlito from the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs told FMT he was surprised to read a report in a local English daily saying that Malaysia has the highest rate of Covid-19 infections in Southeast Asia.
He said the relevant data must be considered holistically to provide an accurate picture.
“While it is true that the number of cases over a population of one million people in Malaysia (154) is second only to Singapore (556), we have to be honest in admitting how much the number of cases is influenced by the number of tests.”
If the relatively small populations of Singapore and Hong Kong are excluded, he said, Malaysia would actually have the highest number of tests per one million people at 2,620.
This would be followed by Indonesia (116) and the Philippines (397), even taking into account their larger populations.
He said this showed that Malaysia’s Covid-19 numbers are linked to a high number of tests and higher ratio of testing, which provide a more reliable picture of the situation on the ground.
“With more tests, you get closer to the real number of infected people,” he said.
He added that Malaysia’s recovery rate of 49% was much higher than that of Indonesia (8.8%) and the Philippines (5.6%).
“The mortality rate in Malaysia is also lower at 1.6% compared to Indonesia (9.49%) and the Philippines (6.41%).”
He attributed Malaysia’s performance in combating the pandemic to a combination of testing, treatment and implementation of the movement control order (MCO).
However, he cautioned against a prolonged MCO given the economic impact which he said would also affect lives.
“When you talk about the economy, you are also talking about lives,” he said, citing the recent survey by the statistics department showing that 46.6% of self-employed people had lost their jobs under the MCO.
He said the policies implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19 had been effective so far but spoke also of the need for “trade-offs” such as relaxing constraints on more economic sectors albeit with stringent health measures in place.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR LIVE UPDATE OF THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA
Fake or not? Check our quick fake news buster here.