Eighth Day of Movement Control Order (MCO

The second week of the MCO begins with the distressing news of increasing cases of Covid-19. This was announced by Health Ministry director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. There were four new deaths and 172 new Covid-19 cases, bringing it to a total of 19 fatalities and 1,796 cases as of noon Wednesday, March 25,2020.He also said that the expected number of cases could reach 6,000 and arrangements are being to cope with this increase. At the same time, he reassured the people that the health ministry is doing its best to keep the number lower.

As expected PM Tan Sri Muhyddin, announced the decision to extend the MCO for another 3 weeks to 14 April 2020.Unfortunately he stopped short of announcing any aid package for the B40 category of citizens who will be most affected by this new extension of the MCO.

Many in this lower income group have no proper jobs or regular income to weather through this difficult time. Imagine a family with of 3 or 4 children living in a low cost flat in the city, without steady income, how are they going to cope during this crisis?

It is only logical some form of monetary aid must be budgeted for them, otherwise we may end up with bigger chaos being added to the already chaotic Covid-19 crisis. Time is not our side and the PM must act decisively and with great urgency to avoid things getting out of hand. There are no more racial and religious issues to blame as the Covid-19 transcends all these barriers.

Whether we like it or not,we have to brace for the next 3 weeks of uncertain challenges. It will take more than 3 weeks but at least we must the see the signs of victory. It is encouraging to read about the many generous individuals and corporations coming forward to contribute whatever they can to release the burden of the poor who need all the assistance. Let us chip in our own contributions to these efforts to help fellow Malaysians.

Another 3 weeks is a long time to weather with the Covid-19 infection looming over us and threatening the peace and tranquillity of our home and the country. As our frontline heroes are kept busy fighting the invisible enemy, let us make our lives better at home and catch up on the loss of precious moments before the Covid-19 catastrophe.

Let’s stay at home, keep clean and don’t forget to keep a distance from one another.