Here’s Why The Government Is Imposing A Total Lockdown

Malaysia will enter into a total lockdown (Full MCO) from 1 June to 14 June 2021. According to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, only essential economic sectors and services will be allowed to operate, but the detailed SOPs will be announced later at 5pm today (30 May 2021).

As of yesterday (29 May), Malaysia’s new Covid-19 cases and new death cases recorded an all-time high. There were 9,020 new cases and 98 new deaths, the majority of the Covid-19 cases are from the Selangor state.

The National Security Council has given several reasons regarding why the government has decided to impose a total lockdown. Firstly, the decision is made after taking into consideration the situation of the Covid-19 virus in Malaysia, where daily new cases have exceeded 8,000 cases.

Secondly, the active cases have surpassed 70,000 cases. As of 29 May, there were a total of 76,218 active cases, with 844 of them in the ICU, and 430 cases that require breathing equipment. Besides, the third reason is due to the fact that 2,552 people have died from the disease as of 28 May 2021. The total number of death cases as of yesterday is 2,650 cases.

The existence of the new Covid-19 variants that are more aggressive and have a higher and faster infection rate is also one of the reasons a total lockdown is required, according to the National Security Council.

Lastly, with the heightening of new Covid-19 cases, the capacity of hospitals nationwide is getting more and more limited. Previously on 22 May 2021, Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham mentioned that the bed capacity in Klang Valley had already reached 113 per cent, some normal wards have also been repurposed to treat ICU patients temporarily.

In one of Dr Noor Hisham’s Twitter postings, he shared the photos of mentally and physically exhausted frontliners in their full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). “These pictures paint a thousand words,” says the caption.

These pictures paint a thousand words pic.twitter.com/cy12tXPvPH

— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) May 28, 2021

Times are tough, but we are all in this together. Therefore, please adhere strictly to the SOPs and stay at home. Before the day of total lockdown kicks off, please do not travel interdistrict or interstate without a proper reason, and please do not panic buy. Stay safe.

 

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