[ad_1]
KLANG and KUALA LUMPUR – Ahmad Hazriq Isa has spent the past seven days surviving on bread, instant noodles and cookies while looking for a new job.
The 26-year-old was unemployed for the second time this year, just minutes after the Malaysian government announced on October 12 that it would re-implement movement restrictions in the capital city Kuala Lumpur, neighboring Selangor state and the administrative capital Putrajaya. as it fights a third wave of Covid-19.
The Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) went into effect on October 14 for two weeks, closing schools and courts as classes and trial hearings moved online, with an inter-district and interstate travel ban.
“I lost my job about 45 minutes after the announcement. My boss took me aside and said that he could no longer pay me. This is the second time I have lost a job due to the pandemic,” Hazriq told the Sunday Times. .
He lives in Klang, Selangor, a district very affected by the current Covid-19 wave.
Hazriq was a railroad technician before being fired in March when the government first imposed a partial shutdown, which caused most Malaysians to stay home while schools and non-essential businesses had to close.
He then joined a mobile phone company as an administrative officer and salesperson after the sidewalks gradually relaxed in May. But this did not last long.
“Things were initially improving as of May, but when the number of new cases skyrocketed last week, we struggled to break even. Everyone was scared off by the large number of infections, so they stopped visiting the center. where we are located. Now I’m back to the starting point: being out of work, “he said.
Ms Soraya Rahman, 22, who had joined a market research firm earlier this year, found out last week that she would no longer have a job in November.
“They gave me the news on the first day of CMCO. They are laying off a lot of people,” he said.
Malaysia has been recording triple-digit cases daily since the end of last month, reaching a record 869 cases on Saturday (October 17) with four more deaths to 180.
While businesses can still operate, many are barely afloat while Malaysians stay home for fear of contracting the virus.
Hawker Lao Yao Kee, 53, said: “I barely recovered (from the first round of curbs). I spent my savings to survive until I was allowed to reopen my position in May. I was getting a little better until cases went up from new I’m glad I can still operate.
“Now I get the contacts of my clients so I can send them daily promotions. Getting 60 to 70 percent fewer sales than I’m used to is still something, as I’m about to run out of pennies.”
Many shopping malls in the Klang Valley were found empty, with several reporting fewer customers even before the partial closure began.
A store in the Suria KLCC mall said they started closing early at 9.30pm a few weeks ago instead of the usual 10pm, as business had plummeted by more than 50 percent since a positive case was reported in a gym in the mall in September.
“We used to see about 200 customers a day, but now we have about 70. The crowd in the office has faded, and even on weekends it is quiet,” said a store worker.
Many companies have been operating in a work-from-home mode since mid-March, and some had started to re-implement this a few days before the CMCO, following the increase in the number of cases.
Stores remain open under CMCO, but only two people per household can venture out to shop. Some stores closed early at 8pm during CMCO.
Some people had hoped that some form of lockdown would be imposed as the number of cases increased, and had been slowly stocking up on groceries and household supplies. The grocery delivery spaces were closed several days before the CMCO was announced.
On Wednesday, the first day of CMCO, the streets of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were quieter than usual and fewer passengers were seen taking trains to work.
However, some customers are happy with the lack of crowds, and several stores offer gifts and coupons to attract shoppers to the malls.
-
Major clusters in Klang Valley
-
Principal
The index case in Utama’s group was a Nepalese security guard at 1 Utama Mall who tested positive on October 8.
As of last Friday (October 16), there were 135 cases linked to this group, spread over various districts of Selangor, including Gombak, Petaling and Hulu Langat, and appearing in Alor Gajah, Melaka.
The mall was closed until Saturday (October 17) due to disinfection.
Jalan meru
Jalan Meru’s group in Klang, Selangor originated from a 30-year-old Malaysian man who tested positive on September 29.
Several sub-districts in Klang were placed under a conditional movement control order from October 9, a few days before the statewide controls were imposed.
At least 107 people have been infected from this group, with cases in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Kelantan, Johor and Pahang.Bah Tropicana
Bah Tropicana’s group in Petaling, Selangor was detected when the index case tested positive after returning from Sabah, one of the most affected states in the country, on October 2.
At least 33 cases have been traced to this group, including those residing in the staff bedrooms of the Tropicana Golf and Country Resort.
Epidemiologist Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud of the Universiti Malaya said it could take up to six weeks for Selangor to see an improvement and the government can extend the CMCO.
“It will probably take a few more weeks for Selangor to see a significant drop in cases. Maybe four to six weeks,” Professor Datuk Dr. Awang Bulgiba told ST.
Selangor has the highest Covid-19 (Rt) replication number of 1.99 as new cases emerge in the state. Yesterday it registered 159 cases.
The Rt refers to the infection rate and estimates the average number of people that a patient can infect.
Professor Awang Bulgiba said that if CMCO’s justification was Selangor’s high Rt, then it could be extended.
“I don’t think it will be reduced to less than one this soon. Therefore, the CMCO is likely to expand.”
[ad_2]
