KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has urged the public to practice self-lockdown so as to prevent a sudden surge in Covid-19 infections, with cases currently exceeding 6,000 daily.
He also advised everyone to remind others to do the same because whatever efforts carried out by the government would not be effective if the people do not comply with the stipulated standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“Some keep asking why not implement a total lockdown? Do your own lockdown, stay at home and tell others to do the same thing.
“The best is we cooperate, no need to blame each other, find a way, pray that we will be protected and this way, Insya Allah, we will win,” he said in a “Special Discussion on the Challenges of Covid-19 with the Prime Minister” broadcast over RTM and Bernama TV tonight.
According to the Prime Minister, a balance between lives and livelihood had to be taken into account in deciding on the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) to ensure that the people are not badly affected by the measures taken by the government.
That is why the government decided not to enforce total lockdown this time, like during MCO 1.0, because it would affect the people and cause more of them to lose their jobs, besides causing them to be unable to rise and revive their lives and the economy.
“Of course, if you ask me, the MOH (Ministry of Health) tells me that is the best (thing to do), Tan Sri… but its effects on the country, if the people are not working, I (the government) had to spend RM340 billion through six stimulus packages to revive the economy (during MCO 1.0).
“That is not a small sum, never happened in the country. We used 20 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to help the people. This is what the people must understand. If we do that (close all economic sectors), we will have a big problem, then the country won’t be able to recover.
Muhyiddin said the closure of all economic sectors during MCO 1.0 from March 18 to May 3, 2020, to curb the spread of Covid-19 not only resulted in the country losing about RM2.4 billion a day, but many people also lost their jobs while petty traders were also badly affected.
He said that if the government re-introduced MCO 1.0, the country would probably require up to RM500,000,000,000 or half-a-trillion ringgit to help the people and revive the nation’s economy.
“We can close (all economic sectors), but when we reopen, the system may collapse because we have to reopen i-sinar, provide Prihatin aid, moratoriums and others. Can the government afford this? Can, but not as much.
“I don’t want to see my people losing their lives because of my complacency or theirs. I also do not want our economy to collapse,” he said, adding that was why the government decided to tighten the SOPs for the MCO 3.0 as announced by Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday.
The Prime Minister emphasised that efforts to flatten the curve of the pandemic was the responsibility of everyone, saying: “accept the fact that this is our problem, our approach is not whole of government, it is whole of society”.
The six stimulus packages previously announced by the government were the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) involving RM250 billion in March 2020 and the Additional Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (additional Prihatin) of RM10 billion in April 2020.
In June that same year, the government announced the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) involving RM35 billion, besides the Prihatin Supplementary Initiative Package (Kita Prihatin) with an allocation of RM10 billion last September.
In January, the government announced the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat’s Protection Assistance Package (Permai) worth RM15 billion as well as the Strategic Programme to Empower the People and the Economy (Pemerkasa) with an allocation of RM20 billion in March. – Bernama
