Closure of all “non-essential businesses” in Malaysia for 2 weeks beginning tomorrow. No one knows what an “essential business” is, but apparently it doesn’t include daycare centres, retail or customer service jobs road construction, maintenance services, etc; and no one knows if this forced halt of thousands of jobs will be paid or unpaid leave. No one knows if rent, mortgage, gas, electricity or water Bill’s will be adjusted to accommodate the forced loss of income.
Also, foreign tourists cannot enter the country. That’ll be about $20 million a week in lost revenue.
All to “protect” a population with a median age of 30, and therefore a #covid19 mortality risk below 1% for the vast majority of people, zero fatalities so far, and only 1.4 million people over the age of 60 who have a higher risk from the virus and could much more easily be protected by a focused, targeted policy.