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Better to buckle down with MCO 2.0 now than have MCO 3.0 later, suggests Najib

Datuk Seri Najib Razak is pictured at the Kuala Lumpur High Court January 6, 2021.  — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
Datuk Seri Najib Razak is pictured at the Kuala Lumpur High Court January 6, 2021. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today suggested that short term “sacrifices” may be preferable to long-term suffering as Malaysia continues to record daily Covid-19 cases surpassing the 3,000-mark.

The Pekan MP weighed in on the government’s announcement yesterday that the current movement control order (MCO) that started two weeks ago may not extend beyond February 4.

He said shifting back to the more relaxed conditional movement control order (CMCO) when the current infections a day remained in the four digit zone is premature.

“If we stop MCO and re-implement CMCO which has proven to have failed before, will we face MCO 3.0 again in the future?

“Why repeat things that have failed since the government is targeting 70 per cent of the Malaysian population to receive the vaccine by the end of 2021?” he asked in a Facebook post.

Najib was responding to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s hope yesterday that Malaysia’s Covid-19 situation may stabilise in two weeks with the MCO in place.

Dr Noor Hisham said that based on the Health Ministry’s projection models, the extension of the MCO to February 4 should allow the country to return to CMCO.

Najib asserted that the CMCO had failed to contain the virus, asking if a longer one would not adversely affect other economic sectors such as private education, transportation, retail, trade shows and sports that involved millions of people in the country.

He suggested the government implement strict enforcement of the MCO for a period of two to four weeks, including shutting down the construction and manufacturing sectors as a means to combat Covid-19.

“Is the tally of 3,000 cases a day an acceptable figure to the people?

“Is it much better for us to implement a strict MCO without any flexibility to the construction sectors and factories for a period of two to four weeks with government assistance like the first MCO last year to have the maximum impact on the local Covid transmission so that the people do not have to face the ongoing CMCO and the risk that MCO 3.0 might have to be implemented in the coming months.

“Isn't short term sacrifices better than a prolonged suffering?” Najib asked.

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