How Malaysians survive the Covid-19
As long as we can keep the death rate below that zero point one percentage, I think we’ve got it under control. More than 80% of the daily new cases verge on asymptomatic to light symptoms and about 90% of them caught it through a cluster at a confined workplace, in the home, a crowded gathering with no social distancing, in the prison or detention camps, or at the frontline checking-in and treating Covid-19 patients. To sum that up, most of us have a zero point zero zero one percent of catching it if we wear our masks, avoid prolonged close proximity interaction, and not risk ourselves in confined spaces where the air circulation is poor.
Checking all of the above is just for our own clear conscience that we’re doing our best. And we have seen the charts drop down to single digit cases with zero local transmission by just following the simple guideline. We are still able to go about our daily routine of work, groceries, essential activities, a run in the park, and catching up coffee with a small trusted group of like-minded friends who keep the safe protocols.
So why are there people who sound the alarm like it’s a death sentence if they step out of their homes? Here’s why..
For that 0.01% chance of walking past someone that could be a Covid-19 carrier, there are some who practically fears everyone with the assumption it could be anyone and that carrier could be showing no symptoms. The scenario gets worse if that carrier happens to be the best friend you’re meeting for lunch.
Malaysians tend to control their social tendencies during the pandemic and avoid having any sort of interaction unless absolutely necessary. Clubs, karaokes, casinos, and pubs are closed since March. Tens of thousands have been fined and some jailed for breaking the SOPs. The fine for not wearing a mask is RM1000 (USD250) per individual or jail term whichever applicable. Two to a car, two to a table, takeaway only, 6 feet distancing, no more than X number of people in any store, temperature checks, sanitisers at every door, check-in for contact tracing, sealed state and city borders, 14-day quarantine for all incoming travellers, and two dozen more SOPs to regulate our behaviour.
We get our national updates from the health ministry everyday. There is just one daily update that covers all states, all cases, all active clusters, recoveries and deaths. We have MCO, CMCO, EMCO, RMCO — all with different lockdown modes to restrict movement. Do they work? They seem to help flatten the curve and reduce the local transmissions for the sake of saving our hospital front-liners from a burnout.
However, unemployment rate sky-rocketed and thousands of businesses had to shutdown. More people were willing to take salary cuts to keep their jobs instead of losing it. It forces everyone to do whatever it takes to pay the bills.
Malaysia’s cases were mostly contained within close contact clusters. So this eases the tracing. From my personal experience, the face mask and simple rules for distancing has helped us survive the Covid-19 without serious repercussions. My family and friends in Malaysia and abroad can still have a pretty decent life without isolation by simply adopting the new norms. Everyone’s doing their part to keep themselves and their closed ones alive.
