Media statement by MP for Bangi and DAP Assistant Political Education Director, Dr Ong Kian Ming on 2 September 2021:

More Granular Data and Faster Data processing is needed for Covid-19 related policy guidance and faster economic recovery

Even though dining-in in the Phase 1 states including the Klang Valley since the 20^th of August, many restaurants still don’t allow dining in because:

1. Not all of their workers have been vaccinated
2. The number of cases in the community is still high so operators are concerned that they and their staff would face a higher chance of infection
3. Customers are still concerned about dining-in because of the high number of reported cases
4. SOPs on dining-in were not clear
5. It may take some time for restaurant operators to rehire staff which they have let go during MCO 3.0

One way in which the government can build up public confidence for the resumption of economic activities and also put in place better policies to manage Covid-19 related healthcare and economic policies is to publish and use more granular data and process certain Covid-19 related information faster especially on the MySejahtera App.

I have outlined FIVE areas where more granular data and faster data processing can lead to better policy guidance and faster economic recover namely:

1. Publishing the vaccination rate by district over time
2. Publish the number of active Category 1 to 5 Covid-19 cases by state over time
3. Publish the ICU capacity and deaths by state over time
4. Publish the number of Covid-19 tests and positivity rate by state over time
5. Process MySejahtera related information faster (on an individual level)

I want to thank the Ministry of Health for already publishing more granular data on GitHub including the number of tests and the positive rate by state (data from the 11^th of August 2021 is available).

However, more of such granular data needs to be published and used by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance and other Ministries for policy guidance and for the opening up of the economy in a responsible manner.

For example, showing the reduction in the number and percentages of Category 3 to 5 Covid-19 patients as well as a reduction in the number of ICU cases in the Klang Valley would slowly give consumers more confidence to come out to dine-in and shop at retail outlets (subject to SOPs). 

For example, showing the number of tests done and the positive rate by state over time can be used to demonstrate that the government is doing enough testing, especially randomised testing, to identify Covid-19 positive patients in the community and to isolate and support them so that community transmission is decreased. Although the number of PCR and Antigen testing has increased substantially over the past months, it is still insufficient as the testing strategy is focused mostly on targeted areas of infection and not including randomised testing which is important to detect and slow down community transmission. (The number of tests by state should increase until the positive rate is around 5%, as recommended by the WHO).

For example, the MySejahtera app needs to be made more responsive and “smarter” to allow for the following:

1. Quicker issuance of the Digital Vaccination Certificate (I still receive complaints that this has not been updated for some who have had two vaccine jabs administered) so that more people can participate in more economic activities such as dining-in and later, even to watch movies, for example
2. Quicker registration of vaccine certification for those who have been vaccinated overseas
3. Allowing vaccine certificates to be “transferred” to dependents so that they can also participate in economic activities as fully vaccinated adults (My mother’s vaccination certificate is in my phone because she is registered as my dependent and some places does not recognise the physical vaccination card nor a screenshot of the digital vaccination certificate)
4. Faster processing of the status of those who have fully recovered from Covid-19 so that they can return to work or participate in economic activities

While the features of MySejahtera have been greatly enhanced since it was first introduced last year, the response rate needs to be faster, and the mobile application must be seen as not ONLY a health and vaccination monitoring tool but a crucial part of the economic recovery process.

In addition to releasing and using and processing all of this data, there needs to be effective communication from the government including through the use of various spokespersons (in addition to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance), the effective use of Infographics which can be shared via social media and proper communication and explanation of SOPs which has been severely lacking for the past 1 ½ years.

I trust that the newly appointed Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, can continue the good work which he did as MOSTI Minister and work together with his colleagues in the new cabinet to lead the charge in the recovery of our healthcare system and of our economy.