Should Malaysia consider a lockdown?

MP SPEAKS | The last few days have been a nightmare. I can safely say that everyone was glued to the television or online news media to get the updates on Covid-19.

And the latest details don’t look good. The total number of cases in Malaysia stands at 428 and there were 190 cases on Sunday alone.

These cases are increasing every day. While most of the infections are from the Sri Petaling mosque cluster, it’s frightening to note that 30,000 Hindus gathered in Penang for a festival on March 8.

If this is not all, it’s now confirmed that Malaysia has its first sporadic case: an indication that Covid-19 has now spread into the community.

There have been re-infections in China and Japan and according to news reports, people without symptoms are causing substantial amounts of infection in the US.

But if we drive around Kuala Lumpur, we will see people in restaurants, cafes, coffee bars, cinemas, night markets and places of worship.

Businesses and shops remain open. And if not for the school holidays, our schools would be open as well.

We need to observe how Italy had 200 cases three weeks ago and now more than 20,000 infections.

More than one thousand four hundred people have died as I write this compared to seven, three weeks ago.

So, we need to act now before it’s too late. And I urge the government to consider a lockdown for the next two weeks so that everyone has no choice but to stay home unless they go out for food, medicine or in the event of an emergency.

This should then be reviewed at the end of the fourteen days.

Spain is under lockdown. Canada has announced a stimulus package to help its citizens cope with increasing expenses. Our neighbouring Singapore has called for all Friday prayers in mosques to be stopped.

We haven’t seen a clear policy statement from Perikatan Nasional, other than the government urging people not to gather in large crowds.

But that hasn’t stopped people from doing so since it’s not mandatory.

We need tougher action that will help curb the fast-rising infection rate or we may see a drastic increase in cases in the coming weeks.

I, therefore, hope the government will give due consideration to a lockdown as Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin meets his ministers on Monday to discuss the way forward.

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CHARLES SANTIAGO is the Member of Parliament for Klang. - Mkini