Malaysian business people are preparing for a new Covid-19 surge

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Fazilah Kamsah, the owner of a Malaysian restaurant, is now focusing on online and takeaway orders, and is turning away dine-in clients until the number of Covid-19 cases stabilises.

Similarly, Rangeeta Kaur, a traditional clothing retailer, has prohibited clients from trying on garments at her store.

As Malaysia prepares for a new wave of Covid-19 infections, both women are among some business owners who are taking precautions on their own by minimising physical interactions with consumers.

 

"The fact that we don't know people's hygienic habits prompted me to make this decision.
I understand that not being able to try on the clothes you're interested in is a turn-off, but I decided that I'd rather follow strict health regimens in order to prepare myself for a new wave "The Straits Times spoke with Madam Kaur.

"Covid-19 has claimed the lives of two of my relatives.
We were told that they contracted the virus during an outing, so I'm more careful now," added the 56-year-old entrepreneur based in Klang.

Madam Fazilah added her two cents, saying that living with the pandemic for nearly two years has taught her how to prioritise.

 

"Several health experts have predicted a new wave in December, as reported in the news.
We've been dealing with the pandemic for about two years, so I'm not going to sit around waiting for the authorities to issue a directive "The Straits Times spoke with Madam Fazilah, a 49-year-old Cheras resident.

"We've all learned the dos and don'ts by now, which is why I'm taking the initiative to safeguard my company, my employees, myself, and my family by choosing this option (decision).
Finally, we must examine the situation independently and re-strategize in order to ensure that we can live while being secure."

 

Noor Hisham Abdullah, Malaysia's health director-general, recently warned of a possible new wave of Covid-19 infections, revealing that the country's R0 (R-nought) value - the average number of new infections arising from each case - had climbed back to 1.0 on Nov 11, just five weeks after an interstate movement ban was lifted.

The country's last infectivity rate over 1.0 occurred on August 31 (1.02), when Covid-19 cases totaled 20,897.

 

Although the R0 has dropped slightly to 0.99 as of Wednesday (November 24), 11 states and federal territories still have a R0 more than 1.00, indicating that illnesses are spreading faster.

Labuan is the federal territory with the highest R0 (1.18), followed by Putrajaya (1.12).

The country's R0 level was 0.91 on November 6.

For recent weeks, the country's daily Covid-19 instances have been yo-yoing between 4,000 and nearly 5,000.

The country registered 6,144 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, a significant increase from the previous few days, when the number of cases fluctuated around the 5,000 mark.

 

The nationwide hospital bed utilisation rate was 69.8% at the time of publication.

In Malaysia, 76.7 percent of the population, or 25,049,738 persons, have been fully vaccinated, while the remaining 78.7% have only had a partial vaccination.

 

Malina Osman, an epidemiologist and biostatistician at Universiti Putra Malaysia, said that given evidence of diminishing antibodies among individuals who have been fully immunised, those who are eligible for booster doses must show up for their appointments.

"I would propose a walk-in vaccination for individuals who are eligible for booster doses as well as those who have not yet had the Covid-19 vaccine," she told the New Straits Times on November 17.