Just two months later today, India has managed to bring its numbers down to 38,792 new cases while Malaysia’s numbers have more than doubled to 11,618.

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak says Malaysia can learn from India’s turnaround.

He said the country had controlled the recent spike in Covid-19 cases and had battled the highly infectious Delta variant.

Noting the dangers of the Delta variant in Malaysia and the country’s overburdened healthcare system, the former prime minister said India had experience in controlling the variant and had managed to rebuild its capacity at hospitals after a devastating second wave of infections.

“From March to April, India’s Covid-19 situation was very bad following the emergence of the Delta variant, but it was successfully controlled in a relatively short period of time with various methods — including a very tight lockdown,” said Najib in a Facebook post.

“If I am in the government, I would ask India for help to send technical experts, medical staff, medicine and equipment for a temporary period.

“I will ask how India could recover in such a short period of time and what we in Malaysia are doing wrong.”

India was the epicentre of the global pandemic in May, when daily infections hit about 400,000 a day amid a second wave of infections which stretched the country’s medical system.

While cases have since subsided in the country of around 1.39 billion people, its 30.9 million cumulative cases and 410,784 deaths as of yesterday is still the highest in Asia. Yesterday, it recorded 2,642 deaths.

In Malaysia, the 11,618 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours surpassed yesterday’s record of 11,079 cases and marked the second day in a row cases have been in the five-digit territory.

At a press conference yesterday, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the increase in daily cases was in line with the number of tests conducted — adding that the Delta variant had also been a major factor behind the spike in numbers.

In an interview with FMT, Universiti Sains Malaysia virologist Dr Kumitaa Theva Das warned that daily Covid-19 infections could double to nearly 20,000 a day within the next two weeks due to the rising number of cases caused by the Delta variant.

Apart from looking to India for help, Najib said Malaysia should also get assistance from countries that have been hard hit by the pandemic but have since managed to control it, such as the US and China.

“I would ask them for help, including the temporary recruitment of experienced health staff, because our country is in a crisis,” he said.

Najib said he didn’t think it was unbecoming for Malaysia to ask for help when in a crisis, noting that the country sent aid to China during the Sichuan earthquake in 2008 and also helped Japan when it was hit by a tsunami in 2011, during which Malaysia also sent rescue teams.

He added that Malaysia often helps other countries in times of disaster and sends goods or expertise when requested by the United Nations.

“I don’t think it’s disgraceful for Malaysia to ask for help when we are in crisis,” he said.

“I will not try to be vain because this is a matter of life and death for the rakyat and is a challenge to the country’s future.

“After we recover, we will continue to help others.”