HOW Malaysia can get out of the Covid crisis (the obvious and the not so obvious):

Business as “usual”
The current state of economy is making it difficult for small businesses and the M40 group to ride out the unending lockdowns. The economy needs to reopen, but work-from-home, online learning and home-based learning need to be the default.

That means all meetings and non-life-threatening businesses must be conducted virtually. If it is impossible to work from home, such as manufacturing and food and beverage, then only the minimum number of employees are allowed to work at any one time, for example, staggered shift work.

Childcare facilities can only operate under the strict condition of forming a social bubble with the children and their parents. Regional lockdowns are essential. Multiple districts should be grouped together as one region, and travelling within the region is allowed, but not beyond the region. The regional borders are drawn based on the availability of essential life-supporting supplies (shopping malls, grocery stores). No form of entertainment is considered essential. Desserts are not essential. Gym is not essential. Crossing regions are only allowed to access healthcare services. 

Strategic lockdowns
Regional lockdowns will start three days before mass testing of the region begins, and will end when the region is fully tested to isolate the infected. During lockdowns, nobody is allowed to leave home until the lockdown is lifted. 

Mass testing
Simultaneously with regional lockdowns, mass testing is critical to end the lockdown as soon as possible. At least one person from each household must be tested. Only those tested negatives are allowed to leave home for essentials or work.

While waiting for the results, one week worth of food supplies for the household should be provided if the household has suffered a significant loss of income. Those tested positive will be required to self-quarantine and two weeks’ worth of supplies should be provided. With a targeted mass testing approach, each region will be cleared of lockdown in a matter of days, and businesses may resume to potentially 50%, more than sufficient to sustain most people. 

Vaccination programme
The vaccination programme needs to continue in a safe manner. Vaccination needs to be done locally in small communities to prevent inter-district transmission. As testing is failing to catch up with the positivity rate, I would say this is critical. Vaccination should roll out after mass testing is completed and the regional lockdown has been lifted. 

Assuming 33 million population in Malaysia and three people per household, we have 11 million households, which is a huge overestimation considering the people at small old folks’ homes, small nursing homes etc, which can be counted as single households. Taking 10 million households for simplicity, we need to perform 10 million tests. At the current test rates of around 50,000 per day (underestimation for simplicity, and we can do much more than this), that is only 200 days. If we do 150,000 tests per day (this will cover the entire Petaling Jaya region in one to two days), we can shorten the total duration to about 60 days, which is only two months. And out of the two months, each region will only enter lockdown for one to two weeks. So, Malaysia can get out of this mess in less than three months. 

The first regions to go into lockdown and mass testing should be those close to the international borders and with huge foreign investment potential. Southern Johor regions should be at the top of the list, as clearing that region will accelerate the re-establishing of cross border travelling with Singapore. Next up should be the high-density population areas, starting from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, followed by other capital cities. The isolated rural regions, which are already considered low risk, will come last. 

Now the question is, who is going to make the move? The current government? The Opposition? Or do we need someone else to jump in? – July 15, 2021.

* RJ reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.