NO one could have foreseen that the coronavirus would impact the economy in such a way, thus affecting the livelihood, basic income, and health of many Malaysians.

Indeed, Malaysia faces greater challenges as the nation battles to survive the pandemic economically, socially, and in health.

In the initial stages, Malaysia proved to handle the Covid-19 storm comparatively better and managed to flatten the curve.

While the Malaysia Economic Monitor 2020 (World Bank Report) reported that a significant policy support was in place, more is required to shelter those who needed it the most especially those in vulnerable households and businesses.

Then, the table turned as there was a drastic surge in cases, speculated to have originated from the Sabah election, which was due to incoherent and incompetent policy.

The continued spike in cases was also due to the lack in rapid testing, targeted approach for standard operating procedures (SOP) and slow vaccination rate.

In June 2021, the Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking noted a shift for Malaysia, from 16th to 51st out of 53 countries. Malaysia has lost the ability to build resilience towards normalisation.

At present, the focus should be for Covid-19 to be endemic as a recovery strategy for Malaysia. A plan must be formulated to achieve a coexistence with the virus, while boosting the economy, yet without compromising health.

The transition from living in a pandemic to accepting Covid-19 as endemic is not an easy process.

Many health experts and policy advisers have already provided suggestions on how Malaysia can exit the pandemic crisis to safely live with the virus.

The most immediate plan that should be a priority for the Malaysian government is enhancing public health by strengthening the healthcare system.

The Covid-19 outbreak revealed the unreadiness of our healthcare facilities to cope with a highly infectious disease.

One strategy to improve this situation is through a public-private partnership (PPP) approach between government and private hospitals to delegate mobility of medical staff and equipment.

There should also be a strong support for Malaysian medical workers by ensuring permanent employment and benefits, so that their performance would be optimum.

The daily number of Covid-19 cases should be viewed differently. The Ministry of Health data shows that more than 95% of the new cases are low-risk patients, who can quarantine at home without overwhelming the healthcare system.

Instead of being alarmed by large figures every day, we should highlight parameters such as the number of high-risk cases, the capacity of healthcare facilities, and the number of Covid-related deaths. Other than that, Covid-19 should only be dealt with like an endemic influenza.

The vaccination drive must be amped up to immunise as many people as possible against coronavirus and its variants. Groups such as school students, migrant workers, and refugees must also be inoculated because they are a significant part of our community.

Other than vaccines, Malaysia should boost its development of medicines and pharmaceutical products as part of strengthening our health resilience in the long run.

Furthermore, the idea of living with the virus can be intimidating, especially for those who have experienced losses.

Hence, there is need to enhance Malaysian mental healthcare ecosystem, not only for post-Covid-19 patients, but also for cooped up citizens to recover mentally and to cohabitate with the virus in the new normal.

Besides health, we need to recalibrate our mindset and direction in handling the Covid-19 crisis.

We must dismantle unnecessary lockdown policies, which are both ineffective and very costly to livelihoods.

Instead, containment measures, if needed, should be based on scientific evidence. Substantially more important are clear communication, data transparency, and consistent trust between authorities and the public to ensure compliance to health and hygiene protocols, even without a lockdown.

Before reaching herd immunity, the economy should be reopened with proper regulations in place for vaccinated individuals.

Those who are waiting for their vaccines should be given initiatives to empower themselves from home, so their potential is not wasted.

Ultimately, accepting Covid-19 is endemic is not easy, but it is not impossible. The key strategy moving forward is that recovery in health and economy should occur not at the expense of the other. – August 2, 2021.

* Abel Benjamin Lim, Fariq Sazuki and Abdul Razak Ahmad are economists.

* 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.