REIMAGINING THE PUBLIC HEALTH STRATEGY IN PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF COVID-19 MANAGEMENT: AN EVOLUTION

Abstract

The year 2021 marked the first anniversary since Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC) affecting nearly 220 countries. Malaysia is currently facing it own battle as till date, three waves  of the COVID-19 upsurge cases has been reported by Ministry of Health, the first wave  started on January 25, 2020, with imported case involving non-local patient from  Wuhan, China with 22 cases while the second wave of COVID-19 was strongly linked  to the religious gathering cluster resulted in 3,375 positive cases and 34 deaths  Unfortunately, in late September, 2020 there was another uprising number of cases  which marked the starting of the third wave and has been continuing since then to now  affecting the general population nationwide. Daily report has highlighted clusters in  schools, community and workplace that has challenge the country overall  management of the pandemic where in May 2021 cases has risen to more than 5000  cases a day, affecting healthcare resources surge capacity and has forces the country  to go into the third lockdown. As nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) remains the mainstay of Public Health measures to reduce COVID-19's impact, this paper will attempt to describe the Public Health strategies that that has evolved in all the three waves’ experiences with regards to contact tracing, screening, quarantine as part prevention and control measures in the attempt to flatten the curve.