WITH the current two-week full lockdown set to end on Monday, the question of whether it will be extended lingers in the minds of many Malaysians.
The ongoing lockdown, which took place on June 1, has somewhat brought down the daily cases, but the high number of deaths and people warded in the intensive care unit (ICU) are still cause for concern.
Many medical experts have been reportedly urging for lockdown extension while some businesses are hoping that the authorities would provide some respite for the economic sector.
Buletin Mutiara today approached some of the Penangites to get their views on whether an extension is needed to curb the pandemic.
Harjit Singh (internal auditor)
“Personally, I feel the government should extend the lockdown with stricter restrictions and not with half-baked measures.
“As you can see, all the economic sectors are still operating as usual. And the main clusters of Covid-19 cases are actually from the factories.
“I am not against them from operating, but the operation should take a break for now.
“It’s better to let people suffer once and for all, rather than continuing with a series of lockdowns.”
Imran Hilmy Tawfik Hilmy (43, journalist)
“I believe many people are for lockdown extension as the cases have yet to dip.
“We may see a slight improvement in the past few days, but we must not be complacent and take things for granted.
“No matter whether the lockdown is implemented through phases or not, the decision must be based on facts and figures. The figure speaks for itself.
“We need to make sure that we are able to bring down the infectivity rate to a lowest level before reopening some of the economic sectors.
“Let’s do it once and for all!”
Chuah Eng Wei (58, beverage deliveryman)
“As of now, the number of Covid-19 cases in Penang has shown improvement and I hope that the authorities can impose a targeted lockdown on certain areas with high cases instead of a blanket approach.
“This will help to strike a balance between public health and people’s livelihoods.
“If the authorities decide to go for a full lockdown, a lot of people will certainly be affected. The suicide cases will rise as many people cannot not handle the level of financial stress.
“Hence, I hope the government will consider this aspect.”
Muhd Firdaus (33, part-time e-hailing driver)
“For me, I want the government to reimpose the lockdown similar to the first movement control order (MCO 1.0) that was implemented in March last year.
“At this juncture, you can see most of the manufacturing sectors still remain open and other businesses running as normal.
“Only allow certain essential sectors to open or else the pandemic will be uncontrollable.”
Story by Edmund Lee
Pix courtesy of interviewees