KUALA LUMPUR: With the increasing number of daily Covid-19 cases, which have now reached the 6,000 mark, it is time Malaysians practised self-lockdown to curb the chain of infection, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
The public, he said, should also remind one another to practise self-lockdown, adding that without the people adhering to the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP), the government’s efforts to combat the virus would be ineffective.
“Some asked, ‘why not implement a total lockdown?’ Do your own lockdown. Do self-lockown. Stay home and tell others to do the same, because no matter how much effort the government makes, it will not be effective if people do not follow the SOP.
“It is better if we cooperate rather than assigning blame. Let’s find the best ways, pray for all of us to be protected and with this, God-willing, we will win,” Muhyiddin said during the Bicara Khas Cabaran Pandemik Covid-19 interview aired on RTM and Bernama TV last night.
He said there had to be a balance between lives and livelihoods, and these were among the main factors considered by the government before the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented.
He said this was why the government decided not to implement a total lockdown like the first MCO in March last year as it would only lead to more unemployment, making it more difficult for the people to recover.
“If it was up to me, the Health Ministry already said it (total lockdown) is the best way, but the country will be affected when people don’t go to work.
“When the economy collapsed and we wanted to revive it (after the first MCO), the government had to spend RM340 billion for six stimulus packages.
“That is not a small amount. It has never happened in this country before.
“Twenty per cent of our gross domestic product was spent on assisting the people.
“This is what the public needs to understand.
“If we do that (total lockdown on all economic sectors), we will face bigger problems to the point where our country will be unable to get back on its feet.”
He said the closing of all economic sectors during the first MCO, which was implemented from March 18 to May 3 last year to curb the chain of Covid-19 infections, led to the government losing RM2.4 billion a day.
On top of that, he said, many Malaysians lost their jobs while small-scale traders were heavily affected.
For a total lockdown like the first MCO, he said, the nation would need at least half a trillion ringgit to assist the public and stimulate the economy.
“We can close down (all the economic sectors) but by the time we want to reopen them, the system might have collapsed, because then, we will need to reopen i-Sinar, give out cash assistance, do a moratorium and others.
“Can the government bear this again? Yes, we can, but we can’t bear too much. I don’t want to see my people being sacrificed for my negligence or theirs. I don’t want the economy to collapse.”
This was why, he said, the government decided to tighten the SOP for the MCO 3.0, as announced by Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Muhyiddin said the responsibility to flatten the Covid-19 curve lay with each Malaysian.
“Accept the fact that this is ‘our problem’. Our approach is not ‘whole of government’ but it is the ‘whole of society’.”
The six stimulus packages announced by the government were the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package worth RM250 billion in March last year and the Additional Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package worth RM10 billion in April last year.
In June last year, the government announced the RM35 billion National Economic Recovery Plan and in September, it forked out RM10 billion for the Prihatin Supplementary Initiative Package.
In January this year, the government announced the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat’s Protection Assistance Package worth RM15 billion, while RM20 billion was spent on the Strategic Programme to Empower the People and the Economy, which was announced in March.-BERNAMA