WE, the undersigned patients, former patients, non-government organisations, public health professionals and individuals express concern over the government’s recent announcement to introduce a conditional movement control order (CMCO) on May 12. 

It would have been better if the recent announcement was made for implementation after May 12 as part of life post-MCO. That would have given at least a week for preparation. 

Due to the incalculable sacrifices made by the thousands of people delivering Malaysia’s essential services in hospitals, clinics, at roads, roadblocks, markets and offices, the country has made remarkable progress in the Covid-19 public health emergency and achieved results which are the envy of many countries in the region and around the world. 

Though more than a hundred people have died, lives have also been saved. Thousands have already recovered from being infected, and have returned home to their families and loved ones. 

However, this achievement has come at a tremendous price. 

Everyone has been hurt by the imposition of the MCO. The impact to the economy has been severe. People have lost jobs, livelihoods of families and communities have been jeopardised. Poor mental health and a lack of physical activity have increased conflict, depression and caused suffering. 

We definitely need to gradually relax the restrictions and ensure that we are able to go back to life, to work and to rebuild. 

However, we are concerned that these achievements could be lost if there is not enough investment in time ensuring that people are sufficiently prepared to protect themselves, families, places of work and communities. 

There is a real risk of successive waves of Covid-19 infection as a result of non- compliance and misunderstanding of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) due to the lack of preparation time. 

This could result in Malaysia moving from this MCO to another one potentially in a couple of months. We cannot afford that. 

There seems to be an overdependence on and expectation that SOPs will solve problems without first investing in ensuring that communities, businesses and the public are briefed and trained on them. There must be sufficient time for businesses and people to prepare to ensure proper compliance and adherence. 

Successful adherence requires proper understanding and preparation. Two days is not enough time. 

Employers and employees of offices, retail and food shop outlets and other places of work are not likely to be adequately briefed and trained on the specifics of disease prevention according to their work location. 

Everyone should be proactive in making serious preparations to reopen businesses and workplaces. The Ministry of Health, other government agencies and healthcare professionals should be able to offer guidance and enforcement, but we must take personal responsibility to make our homes, offices and businesses Covid-19 safe. 

Lack of preparation will result in unsuccessful implementation of the SOPs, increased risks, frustration, conflict, public tension, and most importantly, increased infection and spread of the disease. 

We hope that the government will consider these concerns and ensure that our sacrifices for the past four months will not be in vain.  – May 2, 2020.

* This statement has 359 signatories.

Doctors
1. Prof Dr Roslina Abdul Manap 2. Prof Dr Nur Aishah Taib 3. Associate Prof. Dr Nirmala Bhoo 
Pathy 4. Dr Amar-Singh HSS 5. Dato Dr Bhupinder Singh 6. Dr Anantbir Kaur 7. Dr Anjalai Pathmalingam 8. Dr Chandriga Marimuthu 9. Dr Darshan Singh Harnam Singh 10. Dr Harbinder Gill 11. Dr Harbinder Kaur Gill 12. Dr Jeyaratnam Ratnavale 13. Dr Jeyashree Jacob 14. Dr John Teo Beng Ho 15. Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen (Bandar Kuching) 16. Dr Kok Tack Sang 17. Dr Kong Chee Kwan 18. Dr Lau Yoke Chin 19. Dr Lee Kai Chi 20. Dr Lim Lye Keun 21. Dr Looi Kwok Wah 22. Dr Mior Mohd Yusuf Adnan 23. Dr Mohazmi Mohamed 24. Dr Mohd Ediamin Suhaimi. 25. Dr Nabilah Mohamad 26. Dr Nagammai 27. Dr Natasha Rusli 28. Dr Nur Amani Ahmad Tajuddin 29. Dr Ong Seong Aun 30. Dr Rathan Singh  Indar Singh 31. Dr Razimah Hanim Abu Zarim 32. Dr Shobha Sharma 33. Dr Shreen 34. Dr Sorana 35. Dr Srikumaran Samy 36. Dr Subatra Jayaraj 37. Dr Sukdershan 324Singh 38. Dr Teoh Tee Ming 39. Dr Vikkineshwaran Siva Subramaniam, Malaysian Medics International 40. Dr Wong Kum Weng 41. Dr Wong Woan Yiing 42. Dr Amarjeet Kaur Menender Singh 43. Dr Fairuz A’shikin Abd Kadir, O&G AWCSH 44. Dr Fariha Ramli 45. Dr James 46. Dr Lee Kok Tee 47. Dr Leow Bee Fung 48. Dr Muhaimin Haris 49. Dr Samreet Singh Sandu 50. Dr Wong 51. Dr Yip Cheng-Har 52. Dr Ganabaskaran 

Organisations/Associations
53. All Women’s Action Society 54. Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia 55. CHALLENGER Malaysia 56. ENGAGE 57. Enlight Malaysia 58. Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy 59. Health Equity Initiatives 60. Our Journey 61. Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Kajang, Selangor 62. Poliklinik V-Care 63. Society for Cancer Advocacy & Awareness Kuching 

Individuals 
64. Aamyra Amin 65. Ab Razak  Abu Bakar 66. Abdul Hakim  Abu Bakar 67. Adeline Tan 68. Ady Bay 69. Afonso Mota 70. Agnes Teoh 71. Alexis Gilbert 72. Alice ML Yap 73. Alison Christ 74. Amar Kaur 75. Ameyliah 76. Amirthavalli A. 77. Amnah Salleh 78. Amritpreeta Kaur 79. Ang Hong Eng 80. Angela Foo 81. Angelene Bartholomew 82. Angie Heng 83. Annie Chai 84. Annie Ling 85. Anoshe Amaron 86. Antonio Faria 87. Anushia Vengadasalam 88. Ariya Suk Hui Ng 89. Arvinder Singh HS 90. Ashbie Tai 91. Asvin Kumar Hari Narayanan 92. Ayut Hadhim 93. Azmin MK 94. Bala Chandran 95. Barbara Ng 96. Belle Yap 97. Benny Chai 98. Bernadette Koh 99. Bernard Hyacinth 100. Betsy Teoh 101. Betty Teo 102. Bolhassan Iskandar 103. Bong Pei Ling 104. Bong Pei Pei 105. Bonita Chai 106. Carol Jennifer Soars 107. Celia Mark 108. Chai Hin 109. Chan Chui Fang 110. Chan Lai Wan 111. Chan Pooi Kee 112. Chan Wai Yee 113. Chang Hon Fey 114. Charanpal Singh 115. Chempaka Emalin Pahamin 116. Cheong Kah Hor 117. Cheong Wye Choon 118. Chew Bok Yu 119. Chew Wai Hoe 120. Chng Poh Yan 121. Choo Sow Yee 122. Chris Jerry 123. Christine 124. Christopher Yin 125. Cindy lil 126. Crystal Wong 127. Damien Ong-Yeoh 128. Daniel Koh 129. Daphne Low Wei Ing 130. Daphne Tee 131. Deidre Nair 132. Den Koh 133. Desiree Nair 134. Devaraj Balakrishnan 135. Dr Nurul Haq Shahrir, Expert consultant on religion to the United Nations Malaysia 136. Eddie Wang Siew Meng 137. Edmund Lim 138. Ee Heng Yin 139. Elaine Thong 140. Elizabeth Chrisostom 141. Elsa Haniffah Mejia Mohamed 142. Emily Loo 143. Yong Huey Leng 144. Esther Khong 145. Feilina Feisol 146. Feisal Kamil 147. Filipe Garcia 148. Foo Beau Kee 149. Gan Le-anne 150. Goh Eng Chua 151. Goh Hock Guan 152. Goh Saw Imm 153. Gopalan Achuthan Nair 154. Gordon Gerard Hendricks155. Gurcharn Kaur  Bhagwan Singh 156. Gurdev Singh 157. Gurmukh Singh 158. Harbaksh Singh 159. Harry Dutt 160. Harvinder Singh 161. Heidi Woo 162. Hirddai Singhh Hans 163. Ian Heng 164. Irene Ng 165. Ivan Yong Yoon Onn 166. Jacey kohj 167. Jacqueline Ling Abigail Anne 168. Jagdish Kaur 169. Jaisatia Varthani 170. Jane Chong 171. Janet Khor 172. Jariyah Hashim 173. Jasbeer Kaur 174. Jasmine Kaur 175. Jasmine Shun I 176. Jaswant Kaur 177. Jayalakshmi Srinivas 178. Jean Lim 179. Jean Vaneisha Ravindran 180. Jenny Siow 181. Jessica Lim 182. Jessie Vadiveloo 183. Jocelyn Ng 184. John Douglas Scott 185. John Lee Chay Chye 186. Jolly Goh 187. Joseph Nathan George 188. Joseph Pany 189. Jothee  Sinnakkannu 190. Kalavathy Veerasamy 191. Kam Poh Lei 192. Kan Keong Tuck 193. Karen Gooi 194. Kathy Thong 195. Katrina Felix 196. Keenan Chirayil 197. Khoo Teng Choon 198. Khoo Teng Choon 199. Khor Ai-Na 200. Koay Seng Hock 201. Kok Wing Soon 202. Kricia Bong 203. Lalitha Kunaratnam 204. Laura Gayathri 205. Lee Suan Tee 206. Lee Tian Hua 207. Leela Panikkar 208. Lenny Koy 209. Leon Kan 210. Liang Huei Yee 211. Lim Ai Gaik 212. Lim Ai Kim 213. Lim Boo beat 214. Lim Guat Lian 215. Lim Guat Suan 216. Lim Pei Keen 217. Lim Swee Gim 218. Lim Swee Im 219. Lim Swee See 220. Lin Hafni Ahmed 221. Lina Yo 222. Loh Lim Shen Yi 223. Loo Kah Wei 224. Loy Liang Toh 225. M Ashvin 226. M. Jay Raj  P. Muresh 227. M.Assok Kumar 228. M.Hamsanandi 229. M.Nair 230. Maala Nair 231. Madeline Lim 232. Mallika  M. S. Maniam 233. Manjit Singh 234. Margaret Chew 235. Marion Khor 236. Mariyana Abu Barker 237. Marsdinah Hasim 238. Mary Chen 239. May Tan 240. Mayna Ramesh Patel 241. Mei Ling Sarangapany 242. Mejit Singh 243. Melanie 244. Melinda Ong 245. Melissa 246. Melissa Hew 247. Michelle Koh 248. Michelle Lou 249. Mike Koh 250. Mitch Yusmar Yusof 251. Moganasundari Mahalingam 252. Molly Lim 253. Mrs Parvati Sharma 254. Muhamad Nabil Ahmad Husni 255. Muhammad Azree Mohd Azmi 256. Muhammad Feisol Hassan 257. Muniandy Shunmugam 258. Muthu Suppiah 259. Nadine Chirayil 260. Naim Rafaie 261. Natalie Kan 262. Natasha Fuad 263. Navindeep Singh  Rathan Singh 264. Naziaty Mohd Yaacob 265. Nazirah 266. Nelson Dino 267. Nerine Ong 268. Ng Lai Thin 269. Ng Lay Hoon 270. Ng Yean Joo 271. Ng Yiow Kheng 272. Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid 273. Nurul Hidayah Mohd Azmi 274. Ong Ai Li 275. P.Murugiah, Penang Hindu Association 276. Paramjit Kaur 277. Parmjit Kaur  Sadhu Singh 278. Parumjit Kaur 279. Patricia Nunis, Harmony Works Sdn Bhd 280. Patricia Wong 281. Patrick Chew Wai Yen 282. Paul Chong Kian Ming 283. Paul Pararajasingam Subramaniam 284. Peter Witzigmann 285. Phua Wai Ling 286. Pretam Singh 287. Prudence Lingham 288. Purani Mogan 289. Qiara Arissa 290. R Ranggayah 291. R. Vijay Kumar 292. Rabiatul Adawiyah 293. Raj Paramjothy 294. Ramachandran Subrahmanyam 295. Ramilah Sulaiman 296. Ranjit Kaur Pritam Singh 297. Ratneswary Rasiah 298. Ravinderjit Singh 299. Reshma 300. Rizalina ti Jumairy 301. Romeo Yee 302. Rona Goh 303. Roselind Wee 304. Roslina Manap 305. Rowland Jayawardena 306. Rozana Halpin 307. Rozz Ritzmann 308. Rukawar 309. S. Lata 310. Salimah Saleh 311. San Yuenwah 312. Saranjit Singh 313. Satwant K. 314. Serena Taherin 315. Sevakumar Batumalai 316. Shahezam 317. Sharmila Sekaran 318. Sheila Clemence 319. Shirley lin 320. Shyielathy Arumugam 321. Sonia jit 322. Steven Tan 323. Sugunalechumy 324. Sukdershan 325. Sumarni Matnin 326. Suraya Nordin 327. Susie lim 328. T Mohan 329. T.V. Pillai 330. Tan Moh Kim 331. Tang Hoi Xin 332. Tang Soo Yee 333. Tavamalar 334. Teo Huey Yee 335. Teresa Sennyah 336. Theresa Wong 337. Thong Yeong Shyan 338. Tony Khoo 339. Tristah Teh 340. Tyrone Skipper 341. V.Palanisamy 342. Varpal Singh Menender Singh 343. Vicky 344. Victoria Siaw 345. Vikramjit Singh 346. Viswanathan Supramanian 347. W Dona Irene 348. Wendy Woo 349. Wong Ee Leen 350. Wong Poai Hong 351. Woo Yee Saik 352. Yap Voon Lip 353. Yeong Moh Foong 354. Yew Mun Chun 355. Yogandran 356. Yong Kai Fook 357. Zainab Abdullah 358. Zarina Othman 359. Zuraya Omar.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.