COMMENT | On Jan 25, 2020, the first Covid-19 cases were reported in Malaysia. Three Chinese nationals who entered Malaysia were infected by close contact with an individual in Singapore.

Many things have happened in the past year since the virus was first detected in Malaysia. We had instances of no new cases in February 2020 and we had a period in which it would seem that we had the pandemic under control and we seemed to be on the road to recovery.

But all those are in the past. On Jan 29, 2021, 5,725 cases new cases were reported with more than 3,000 in the state of Selangor alone. The total number of cases in Malaysia now stands at more than 200,000 with tragically, more than 700 deaths.

The numbers, it would appear, keep rising. Districts in almost all parts of the country are in the red zone. It would seem that we have lost control of the pandemic. The mood around the country is sombre.

More than two weeks ago, the government announced a second movement control order for certain states, which was later extended to all states except Sarawak. But this "MCO 2.0" has ...