Sin Chew Daily

The national security council has decided to extend the first phase of nationwide lockdown supposed to end on June 14 by another 14 days.

The move has not come as a surprise to anyone as the government announced earlier to implement a three-phase lockdown whereby some economic sectors will reopen in the second phase once the first phase lockdown has effectively brought down daily new infection numbers. It is therefore within expectation that the government will extend the first phase of lockdown as there is no sign of easing for the pandemic.

The full lockdown extension from June 15 to 28 is poised to further bruise the already frail economy and market.

Economists have estimated that the the country will suffer RM21 billion in economic loss during the 14-day full lockdown, or RM1.5 billion a day. With another 14 days now added, the loss is estimated to reach RM42 billion, dealing a severe blow on many struggling SMEs as well as the livelihoods of millions of Malaysians.

The local market has come under tremendous pressure ever since the MCO 1.0 introduced last March. Many local businesses had to tighten their belts, transform their businesses and explore new channels in order to weather the storm. Unfortunately due to fluctuation in the severity of the pandemic, they have since gone through various phases of MCOs that have been extended over and again. Many are finding it very difficult to survive.

Business owners are not the ones taking the brunt alone, many wage earners and university graduates will go out of work if companies shut down or lay off workers. Analysts have projected a rebound in short-term unemployment rate to around 5% as the local job market recovery is smashed by the full nationwide lockdown.

Sure enough the government is aware of the tremendous impact nationwide lockdown will have o the economy and market, but this is the only way to mitigate the worsening pandemic. The government has to choose between life and livelihood and at this juncture we need to save lives first before talking about the economy. Many Malaysians can understand this and many have supported the government's decision to extend the lockdown by another 14 days.

Having said that, the government must also come up with effective solutions to help the struggling SMEs.

To be fair, the government has offered financial assistance to local SMEs including extending the one-month salary subsidies.

Meanwhile, the government must also have a macroscopic perspective to plan well ahead of time instead of haphazard plans followed by repeated reversals.

When the government started to enforce the MCO 3.0 on May 12, many said the relatively loose SOPs would never be able to flatten the infection curve, but the government remained unperturbed until it discovered that things were not quite right and ti had to come up with more drastic full lockdown measures.

The so-called "full lockdown" is not really very "full" as many business sectors are still allowed to operate, making it difficult to break the infection chain. Unfortunately the government has paid little heed to such well-intentioned advise, and we all know what has happened next, extension of lockdown by another 14 days!

If the government fails to exhibit its resolvedness and come up with effective solutions to fight the virus, we really don't know what will lie ahead of us after 14 days!