KUALA LUMPUR (March 18): The movement control order (MCO) was imposed on March 18 last year to control the spread of Covid-19, after cases rose sharply in a matter of days; from March 14 to March 15, new reported infections jumped to triple-digit figures from double digits — to 190 from 41.
When the MCO was implemented exactly one year ago, 117 new cases of Covid-19 were reported that day, bringing total infections to 790. The first two deaths from the outbreak in Malaysia were reported just the day before — a 60-year-old pastor from Kuching and a 34-year-old man who joined a tabligh gathering at a Seri Petaling mosque, which triggered the second wave of Covid-19 infections in the country.
The first lockdown saw the prohibition of social, sporting, cultural and religious activities, as well as the closure of schools and other educational institutions.
All workplaces except for those involved in essential services, namely water, electricity, energy, telecommunications, postal, transportation, irrigation, oil, gas, fuel, lubricants, broadcasting, finance, banking, health, pharmacy, fire, prison, port, airport, safety, defence, cleaning, retail and food supply, were allowed to operate.
Most places except for supermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores had to close, while F&B businesses were not allowed to have dine-in customers.
The nation’s borders were sealed. Interstate travel was banned, save for certain urgencies. Tourism ground to a halt.
In the year since the MCO was implemented, the gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by as much as 17.1% in the second quarter of last year (2Q20) — the worst decline since the Asian Financial Crisis, when the GDP shrank by 11.2% in 4Q98. Meanwhile, unemployment swelled to 5.3% in May 2020, although it has since moderated to 4.9%.
However, it was not all doom and gloom — the credit freed up by the pause in loan repayments poured into the local equities market. Coupled with a historically low interest rate of 1.75% and work-from-home arrangements, the FBM KLCI has rebounded by almost 30% to 1,624.97 points.
Fast forward almost a year later, and on March 17, 2021, new cases numbered 1,063, bringing total cases to 326,034. Meanwhile, 1,218 had perished from the disease. The number of patients who had recovered stood at 309,612, bringing the recovery rate to 95%.
Vaccinations also began in February, with 346,508 people receiving their jabs as at March 16.
We revisit the surreal sights of the Klang Valley during the MCO and other forms of movement restrictions with pictures taken by our team of photographers.