Sin Chew Daily

The past few days have seen record highs in the numbers of daily new positive COVID-19 cases in the country, with Oct 6 reporting an all-time high of 691 new cases. This has raised alarm among many Malaysians.

The staggering numbers show that the fight against the coronavirus has now come to a very crucial stage. We are now at a crossroads and must adopt the most optimal solutions to flatten the curve once again and prevent the situation from worsening beyond control.

Most of the new cases in recent weeks have been concentrated in the states of Kedah and Sabah, but that does not mean other states are free from the scourge of the virus.

Some of the politicians and members of the public returning from Sabah have now tested positive for the coronavirus. They could have met plenty of people before they were admitted into the hospitals. We have yet to see whether some of these people have started new infection clusters in our midst.

Among those testing positive include cabinet and state exco members as well as assemblymen.

Minister in the prime minster's department (religious affairs) Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri did not go on quarantine after returning to the peninsula from Sabah on September 25. Instead, he was busy attending events and functions across the country, including visits to three different universities and attending meetings. Thousands of people could have come into contact with him during this period of time. If some of these people are unfortunate enough to have been infected, they could spread the virus further, making in all the tougher for our frontliners to battle the virus.

People who attended events that were also participated by the minster between September 24 and October 4 are urged to go for COVID-19 testing to help the authorities contain the spread of the virus. Senior government officials who attended events together with Zulkifli, including PM Muhyiddin Yassin and health DG Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, have gone on home quarantine.

Despite the situation getting increasingly serious, the government has yet to announce the reinstatement of MCO on several considerations.

While MCO can help flatten the curve more effectively and minimize the risk of infection, it will at the same time hurt the national economy.

The MCO implemented in March indeed successfully put the outbreak under control, but the economy suffered tremendously. Many companies were unable to survive and had to wind up their businesses.

A second MCO is bound to kill some of the remaining businesses, triggering a new round of corporate layoffs and pushing up the unemployment rate, in the end jeopardizing social stability.

This is one of the reasons the government has been reluctant to reinstate the MCO.

So far the situation is not completely out of control, and the government's next course of action will very much depend on the attitude of the authorities as well as the public in tackling the infections.

The authorities will need to adopt a much more hardline attitude in penalizing people who defy the quarantine orders in order to deter potential violators.

In the meantime, members of the public must come to realize the severity of the situation and extend their utmost cooperation to the government by strictly adhering to the SOPs in minimizing infection risks.

We have now arrived at a very crucial stage in our battle against the virus. Full cooperation from all Malaysians is absolutely necessary in order to break the infection chain and flatten the curve.

If we continue to take this lightly, we will be opening our doors wide to the virus!