Malaysia to extend full lockdown till cases drop

Malaysia will extend its full lockdown until daily new Covid-19 cases drop below 4,000, and its targets on vaccination and intensive care unit (ICU) bed usage are met, said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.

The lockdown was originally due to end today, but the country is still averaging above 5,000 cases a day, nearly four weeks into the lockdown.

It recorded 5,586 new cases and 60 deaths yesterday.

Malaysia spent much of last month under a more relaxed nationwide lockdown after a spike in cases since April.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin did not specify the duration of the extension, but indicated that it would continue until daily new cases drop below 4,000, according to national news agency Bernama.

He said the government will announce a new fiscal relief package to complement the RM40 billion (S$12.9 billion) Pemerkasa aid package announced on May 31. "This (aid package) will be more comprehensive than what we already have," he told the media after visiting a mega vaccination centre in Selangor, Malaysia's worst-hit state.

The new aid measures are expected to be announced today or tomorrow, he added.

Earlier this month, Mr Muhyiddin introduced a four-phase plan to exit out of the pandemic, with each transition guided by three indicators. The current lockdown is the first phase, while a more relaxed second phase will retain much of the curbs and also allow more economic sectors to operate.

Aside from daily case figures, the other two indicators are the vaccination rate and the level of utilisation of ICU beds for Covid-19 cases in hospitals.

The country needs to achieve full vaccination for 10 per cent of its population in order to move into phase two, but only 6.2 per cent had been fully inoculated as at Saturday. Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, the coordinating minister for immunisation, previously said the 10 per cent target will likely be achieved only by the middle of next month.

While there were no specific target numbers set for ICU bed usage, latest figures show that the rate remains above 90 per cent nationwide.

Malaysia projects a partial reopening of the economy by the end of August - once daily cases dip below 2,000 a day - while a full reopening, including the lifting of travel bans, is expected to take place in November.

News of the extension made the rounds yesterday, with the hashtag "Kerajaan Zalim" (cruel government) trending on Twitter, as Malaysians vented their frustration over the prolonged lockdown and expressed scepticism about its effectiveness.

"28 days of MCO appears to have gone to waste. What is the fate of Malaysians?" Twitter user Hamidah Hamzah asked, referring to the movement control order as the lockdown is called.

Many people are frustrated with the workplace clusters linked to factories, many of which are allowed to operate under lockdown regulations, in order to minimise the impact on the economy.

The lockdown last year saw the country losing RM2.4 billion a day, while the current lockdown is costing RM1 billion a day, Mr Muhyiddin revealed previously.

Only RM5 billion out of the RM40 billion aid package announced last month was in the form of direct fiscal injection.

Democratic Action Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng urged the government not to announce a "cosmetic" relief package for the lockdown extension. He also asked on Twitter: "Why do businesses with no Covid-19 cases have to close due to the lockdown, while factories with cases are reopened after a few days and sanitisation?"

Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin said on his Facebook page that the lockdown will do little to resolve the issues arising from the pandemic.

"The main cause of transmission is not the people who are stubborn or disobeying rules. Daily clusters from the public are at a minimum. But people are asked to isolate and continuously being told to be patient," he added.

"This is applying medicine to an area that has no wound."