NAVIGATING our way through the COVID-19 pandemic is tricky business, as the recent ‘total lockdown versus tighter MCO 3.0’ debacle would tell you.
Amid the skyrocketing number of new COVID-19 cases nationwide, many quarters had thrown their support behind the idea of a total lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.
Others, meanwhile, opined that it would be better for the Government to introduce stricter MCO 3.0 measures in lieu of a lockdown, seeing as to how the first MCO had severely crippled the country’s economy.
As of May 28, we had 549,514 Malaysians who are infected with COVID-19, with the country reporting 8,290 new cases in the last 24 hours to reach yet another record high.
Time for a total lockdown? Yes, absolutely, as the numbers are showing no signs of a downtrend despite the current (and ahem, ‘tighter’) MCO.
A total lockdown would certainly be effective in breaking the chain of infection, and this is what the country really needs right now.
It is a documented fact that in cases per million population, we are now worse off than India. We have been told of a “vertical surge” and to “prepare for the worst”, but other than that, the authorities haven’t had much success in keeping the pandemic at bay.
But while a full lockdown is a sure-fire way to break the chain of infection, it isn’t always the easiest decision to make, as the Government had learned after MCO 1.0 in March 2020.
To recap, the first MCO lasted 47 days. While successful reducing daily infections to single digits, the lockdown had severely impacted the country’s capital economy and the people economy.
According to news reports, MCO 1.0 had cost the Government an estimated RM2.4 bil a day.
Multiply that by 47 days, and you’ll get a rough idea of the price of the first lockdown – RM112.8 bil.
Economists had previously warned that a full lockdown could cost irreparable damage to the economy, and this is something that should not be taken lightly.
Businesses would be forced to close, with an estimated 2.8 million people losing their jobs – in short, it would take the country years to fully recover.
This therefore begs the question: Should the Government reconsider the full lockdown?
Well, the answer is, unfortunately, not that simple.
In the search for balance between protecting lives and keeping the economy going to sustain our livelihoods, who can say for sure that one is more important than the other? – May 29, 2021
