File photo showing deserted streets in Kuching City on the first day of the MCO on March 18, 2020.
KUCHING (May 22): Many are in favour of the implementation of total lockdown as the most effective means to flatten the Covid-19 curve, based on the feedback from a number of respondents here.
Federal de facto Law Minister Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan had, on Thursday, said the government would deliberate on whether a stricter lockdown should be imposed under the current Movement Control Order (MCO).
He said it was one of the measures that the authorities, especially the National Security Council (MKN) would need to consider, in that managing the pandemic remained the government’s top priority.
Abdul Rahman Hassan, 64, said it would be apt to implement a full lockdown now to flatten the curve of infection.
“I agree on it (lockdown), but it should be subject to scale, and should not be over one month as there’s the economic factor to be considered.
“In order to make it more effective, the JKKKs (village security and development committees) should also be engaged in the enforcement to ensure that the lockdown is effective,” the Kampung Astana Lot community leader told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
Adding on, Abdul Rahman said the JKKKs should also be on the emergency action committee to make sure that everyone would fully comply with the lockdown directive.
Expressing similar sentiments, Farah Aishah Chandra believed that total nationwide lockdown was vital in view of the daily number of positive Covid-19 cases had surpassed the 6,000-mark for two consecutive days.
“I think it would be best that the authorities as well as the citizens all put forth their focus and efforts on curbing the Covid-19 rate of transmissions as it is a domino effect; also, not even half of the Malaysian population have been vaccinated,” said the 20-year-old student, pointing out that everyone must give full cooperation in the fight against Covid-19.
For Zia Qazizada, the lockdown should be implemented in view of the slow progress of the nationwide vaccination programme.
“It is crucial to go for total lockdown due to the slow process of vaccination, and also the increasing number of Covid-19 cases.
“Of course, the government should also provide the moratorium (on repayments of loans and borrowings) and also all the related aid packages slated for the people and corporations who are affected by it (lockdown).”
The 35-year-old post-graduate student also opined that the full lockdown period should be for at least two weeks, as what was done during the first MCO in March last year, which he believed had done a great job in flattening the curve.
“The faster we beat Covid-19, the better it would be for everyone. Many things have been affected by the pandemic; I have several friends who complain about their life milestones, such as weddings, being put on hold indefinitely.”
On the other end, Valentine Stuart Chiu disagreed with having a full lockdown as it would affect the country economically.
The 40-year-old field engineer said if implemented, many more people would lose their jobs or have their salaries reduced further – unless the government was prepared to give out more financial aid packages and moratoria.
“Some employees already have their salaries cut down; implementing a full lockdown would make these people earn just the bare minimum, and they cannot get a second job as everyone has to stay home,” he argued.
Meanwhile, Max Ong opined that a full lockdown was ‘not appropriate’, in that people still needed to make a living.
However, he acknowledged that the pandemic had ‘dragged on for far too long, leaving many to be suffering financially.
“Aside from their health, we need to balance things out with giving them a financial safety net to ensure that they could continue to sustain their livelihood.
“Keeping the people home and preventing them from mixing with one another could help ensure their health, but they could not earn anything by staying at home; they still need to eat,” said the 28-year-old student.
Ong believed that instead of a full lockdown, the government could look into enhancing the standard operating procedures (SOP) to further restrict people’s movements, such as only allowing two persons travel on board a vehicle at one time.
At the same time, he also called upon the people to ‘not simply blame the government for everything’.
“They (government) too are having a hard time in managing something this massive,” he added.