THE Penang government is preparing the state for endemicity.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state was showing signs of recovery.
“The traffic in Penang has returned and the hotels are fully booked. Rightfully, the state government is looking forward towards economic recovery and how it can manage Covid-19 effectively within this context.
“Our strategy is therefore to dramatically shift towards preparing Penang for endemicity, which will be reflected in my upcoming 2022 Budget announcement,” he said in his welcoming remarks during the Covid-19 Use case Discovery Dialogue today.
The online dialogue was organised by Digital Penang.
Chow said one of the components to prepare Penang for endemicity was to leverage technologies to better manage Covid-19.
“We need to leverage digital technologies to better manage Covid-19 as we strive to reopen, reignite and rebuild our economy. It is, therefore, timely that the Ministry of Health has taken the initiative to share data publicly.
“The Penang government congratulates and encourages more of such efforts and openness. With decentralisation of data, ideas for solutions can be crowdsourced.
“If this Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we need to work together wholeheartedly despite our differences; and adopt ideas from everywhere and anywhere for the common good,” he said.
Chow also mentioned that Penang had gone up against multiple Covid-19 clusters, dramatic swings in the number of cases which resulted in a deep strain on the capacity of its public healthcare facilities since the first movement control order (MCO).
“We have been actively managing the pandemic since the beginning. Penang Lawan Covid-19 was established at the very beginning as a communication channel to consistently inform and disseminate truthful information.
“Penang was also the first state to launch a check-in app with the roll out of PGCare, before discontinuing it for better synergy with the Federal Government’s efforts via the MySejahtera.
“Since then, the state government has continued to step up its efforts, which include the roll out of vaccination centres, testing programmes and other forms of aid. We were not alone in these.
“The generosity and cooperation of various parties and organisations made the programmes successful,” Chow said.
He said: “Some examples of these successes include the coordination between the state and Federal for the quick rollout of vaccines; and Penang Safe, a community-driven initiative with the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) for tests.”
“The state has also received numerous equipment and monetary donations from the industries and our very own employees.
“These partnerships have made it possible for Penang to open safely,” he added.
Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim, who was appointed as the Covid-19 coordinator between Penang and the Federal Government on Sept 11 this year, thanked Chow for his strategic leadership in managing and leading the fight against Covid-19.
“It has not been easy. When the Covid-19 hit us, not only Malaysia but the world at that time did not have much information about Covid-19.
“But Penang, under the leadership of the Chief Minister, had gone ahead ‘before the gun went off’.
“We went ahead to launch the Penang Lawan Covid-19 way before anyone in Malaysia did. This demonstrated the farsightedness of our Chief Minister and the state leadership in preparing the way to manage the pandemic.
“We were also among the first states to announce stimulus packages as well as technology applications such as PGCare,” Sim said.
Meanwhile, Penang Health department director Dr Ma’arof Sudin said that the number of Covid-19 cases in Penang was showing a downward trend.
He also presented the strategies and challenges of the state Health Department in managing Covid-19.
Also present at the dialogue were Digital Penang chief executive officer Tony Yeoh and Bukit Mertajam Hospital director Dr Goh Hin Kwang.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Law Suun Ting
Video by Chan Kok Kuan