WITH the Sabah elections out of the way and the tussle for the prime ministership seeming to have died down, at least for the moment, focus should shift back to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Another wave is threatening to hit Malaysia, mostly from the various clusters forming in Sabah, which appears to have spread to the Klang Valley, with a school and several shopping malls confirmed to have positive cases.

Immediate action should be taken to curtail unnecessary movement of people to essential and targeted locations; the previously imposed geographical and time restrictions ought to be reinstated, at least for now.

A failure to quickly stem these new clusters now will mean prolonged countermeasures that will take a bigger toll on the economy and hamper the slow but steady progress Malaysians are making in recovering our internal economy, such as jumpstarting local holidays.

For the medium term, the government should consider limiting movement to certain days of the week, for example, markets on alternate days, and re-introduce frequent patrols, at least till year-end.

While Malaysians are getting used to the “new norm”, occasional reminders in the form of enforcement and ongoing education need to continue.

Apart from the federal government, state governments should continue with their programmes and assistance, such as instructing local councils to assist in crowd control and monitoring, especially in municipal-owned and run assets like parks, and permanent and weekly markets.

Government agencies need to develop and refine their own guidelines, such as for tourism, commercial and recreational activities.

Interstate travel, for example, should be more fluid, to cater for more “restricted” movement control order stages, with booking periods limited to just a week before to avoid overcrowding. A tourism aid fund by industry players, the state and federal governments could assist with booking fee cancellations and promotions to offset the loss suffered from these steps.

Delivery services could be further encouraged by rebates and tax exemption or centralised kitchens, such as the ones sponsored by the Selangor government during the start of the pandemic for its “online” Ramadan bazaars. These kitchens help offset production costs and mitigate the high cost of rent at a time footfall in malls and shopping centres are sporadic and driven by infection rates.

Corporations can trigger work from home and other similar business continuity plans in their respective areas to lessen the pedestrian traffic in affected areas, and should be encouraged to do so.

SMEs struggling to survive need direction and a long-term plan rather than just handouts or cash aid. It makes more sense to pivot into delivery services while maintaining a minimal presence at strategic locations, both for branding and continuity, and to help their landlords survive as well.

At the end of the day, any effort to help keep the infection rates low has a direct impact on lowering government mitigation costs and long-term economic impact, so tax exemptions, rebates and incentives will not be wasted, rather than have a reverse multiplier effect in terms of long-term saving.

What we thought was a virus that would be gone in a month or two looks set to stay a year or more, so it should follow that the plans we made for the short term needs to be tweaked to ensure our economic survival while maintaining whatever head start we have gained in the region and globally.

This involves all hands on deck, and proper, unwavering attention. – September 30, 2020.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* 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.