A total lockdown with stricter restrictions should be enforced for at least three months to bring down the number of Covid-19 infections in the country.

Medical experts believe this, coupled with an aggressive find, test, trace, isolate and support (FTTIS) system and the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP), could see the country having two-digit cases by September and returning to normality by early next year.

If the two-week lockdown was strictly enforced, it would still require eight to 12 weeks to bring the numbers down to a manageable level.

"The newer variants might have an infectious period longer than two weeks, possibly as long as 21 days. If we have a total lockdown for two to three months, infections will be confined to family members. There is no point in pussyfooting around, having a half-baked lockdown.

"If we do not take heed of the hard lessons that the past year and a half have taught us, we will squander whatever time we are buying with this lockdown, waste all the sacrifices that our frontliners have made and doom ourselves to repeating the very same mistakes that we made.

"There is no room for poor indecisive leadership and misplaced pride in this pandemic war,"

The total lockdown should be enforced until the end of November, followed by three months of strict Movement Control Order.

A two-week total lockdown was a very minimum period to combat the rapidly surging outbreak.

"We have reached a one-way track, where the only effective circuit breaker to bring down the number of cases is with a total lockdown. It is a do or die situation.

"Along with these, the authorities need to strengthen FTTIS and accelerate the NIP to see double digits by October.

"There must also be less negative political interference or manoeuvring as this is a health crisis, and decision-makers at the National Security Council, Health Ministry and Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee must make decisions based on scientific data.

"We must not repeat past mistakes, which saw the authorities easing restrictions too soon by allowing events, gatherings and people to return to their work routines.

"The government must have a good and effective plan with the goal of returning to normality by year-end or early 2022. So far, we have yet to see such a plan."

At least three months of strict restrictions were required to reduce the number of cases to save the healthcare system and prevent more deaths.

"We need at least three months of full lockdown. This should be reviewed from time to time, where the assessment of the situation should consider those who are in hospitals and intensive care units, number of deaths, number of those fully immunised and the R naught value."