As at yesterday and with a nationwide lockdown, the country still saw a surge of coronavirus cases to 790 confirmed infections with 2 deaths and only 60 recovered.
The moronic part of the surge in the number of infection is this – 513 of the 790 confirmed cases (almost 65%) were due to the irresponsible religious gathering – an event where the participants, organisers and their supporters are still in denial mode and missing by the thousands. Image source: Malaysiakini.
Related: Outbreak 2020: Why Malaysia in Partial Lock Down?
This surge is why we have the second wave of virus infection that prompted Malaysia’s first taste of lockdown.
The Health director-general Datuk Seri Noor Hisham Abdullah already warned that if Malaysians do not take the lockdown aka Movement Control Order (MCO) seriously, the country risks seeing the third wave of Covid-19 infections. This would result in the end would be a total lockdown.
The first day of the lockdown (yes I know, the right term to use is movement control order) started with me waking up at my normal waking up time at 4.50 am. It took some time for my “still asleep” mind to reboot and tell me that there is a lockdown in effect. I went back to sleep and woke up 3 hours later. Welcome to working from home and this very funny meme from MGAG simply nails the point.
Work officially starts at 9 am but since it was time to work from home, it only took me a couple of seconds to go from home to work. I have arranged a portion of the dining table as the workplace for the next 2 weeks. This is so because it is nearer to the home wi-fi router, a bit cooler and a bit more comfortable compared to my son’s study room upstairs.
Working from home during lockdown compared to office has its pros and cons – among the key disadvantages of working from home is that there are a lot of distractions – kids interrupting me often, family watching television, minor housework to be done.
It is not as comfortable as working from the office although that big sofa in front of the television does look very tempting. There is no face to face discussion – one needs to wait for the others to respond in Skype, Whatsapp or Telegram so sometimes the push & discussion is not so effective.
Even worse is this – being at home and surrounded by titbits piled up for the school holidays, home-cooked food and a fridge full of snacks, I tend to have something munching all the time. I finished 5 packets of Twisters on my first day itself – I know it is not healthy but I was helpless, I was cornered.
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On the other hand, there are some benefits of working from home during the lockdown – the main one is that I don’t have to drive out of home & office and back. This saves money and time. I don’t have to get stuck in a traffic jam which easily saved 30 – 45 minutes of driving one way.
The bigger benefit, of course, is the minimal interaction with others which may cause further infection. It is safer to be at home and then outside where one still needs to come out for lunch.
Overall, based on the news reporting, the lockdown had severely reduced the movement of Malaysians and pushed most of them to be “locked” down at home. Of course, there were stubborn ones:-
“During the ops, we also found several businesses, including a car wash, restaurant and vape shop, open for business. We advised them to close immediately or face stern action,” he said.
SAC Fadzil said they also found that a temple in Section 8, Shah Alam holding its annual general meeting.
“We advised them to disperse immediately and close the temple,” he said.
He added that during checks in Padang Jawa, several individuals were found loitering near a motorcycle shop and at a flat’s parking lot.
He said all of them were ordered to disperse and go home.
“We hope people here will take the MCO seriously as this is the best way to curb the spread of the virus.
(Source)
Related: Outbreak 2020: Dumb Religious Quotes on the Causes of Coronavirus
And then we still have this religious-related madness:-
Thousands of Muslim pilgrims from across Asia gathered in Indonesia on Wednesday (March 18), despite fears that their meeting could fuel the spread of a coronavirus, just two weeks after a similar event in Malaysia caused more than 500 infections.
Organisers had rejected a formal request from authorities to postpone the gathering, said a regional official, Arifuddin Saeni.
He estimated that 8,695 people had already assembled in Gowa, near the provincial city of Makassar, adding that the numbers would make it hard to put a halt to the proceedings.
“They are still coming,” he said. “There are people from Thailand, Arabia, India and the Philippines.”
(Source)
And this in Bangladesh:-
Local police chief Tota Miah said some 10,000 Muslims gathered in an open field in Raipur town in southern Bangladesh to pray “healing verses” from the Koran to rid the country of the deadly virus.
“They held the Khatme Shifa prayers after dawn to free the country from the coronavirus,” Miah told AFP.
Organizers claimed the number of worshippers was 25,000.
He said organizers did not get permission from authorities to hold the session
(Source)
What’s wrong with these people?
Is it due to lack of awareness or lack of education? Or perhaps it is due to mental illness and twisted interpretation of the coronavirus situation?
Are they really concerned citizens, taking precautions to minimise or just being unhygienic & reckless? Doesn’t this act of organising large, close proximity gathering despite the screw-ups by Shincheonji Church in South Korea and Malaysia where religious gathering caused more infections, akin to a terrorist attack? Think about – what is the difference between this and a suicide bomber blowing up in a crowded market?
People need to wake up to reality – as of today, 220,000 cases have confirmed with almost 9,000 deaths around the world.
If they don’t have any care for their personal health and even ready to die, they should at least be concerned about other’s health and well-being. Others who may have families to feed and have to take care of them and also the impact on their businesses & the economy as a whole.
Don’t be selfish, stay at home during this lockdown unless it is a real emergency and always be mindful of the situation that is happening around you. And more importantly, use your brain to act and do smart during this lockdown.
To be continued…