IN March, the average number of COVID-19 cases recorded was 1,443 per day and rose to 2,107 in April as Ramadan bazaars were allowed to operate in addition to night markets. The number rose to 5,279 in May as many people visited friends and family members not staying together.
On May 28, the Prime Minister’s office released an official statement announcing the implementation of the Phase 1 full movement control order (FMCO, also known as total lockdown) nationwide but instead of decreasing, average daily cases continued to rise, averaging 5,987 in June.
Clearly, whatever measures in place were inadequate to contain the spread of COVID-19. Worse, infections almost doubled in July with an average of 11,655 cases per day and again in August with 20,419, or a total of 632,982 cases for the month and an accumulative total of 1,746,254.
Earlier, I had projected that August would end up with 600,253 cases, and accumulative cases would reach 1,736,958 by August 31, 2,340,528 by September 30, 2,964,217 by October 31, 3,567,787 by November 30, and 4,191,476 by December 31.
With no choice but to open the economy after prolonged lockdowns and many people not changing their behaviours while dining in enclosed spaces, engaging in close conversation, and not fully complying with standard operating procedures (SOPs) in crowded places, it is unlikely that daily cases would decrease.
Meanwhile, do we do nothing but wait for it to happen over the next four months, just as before? At the beginning of the year, I wrote “2020 was a bad year for tourism, but 2021 could be even worse”. Seeing what has happened so far for this year, I dread to imagine what 2022 will be. – Sept 1, 2021
YS Chan is a master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and an ASEAN Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant and writer, and researcher for the Travel Industry Occupational Framework published by the Department of Skills Development (JPK).
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
