Speculation is rife and the rumour mill has gone into overdrive that new Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Ismail Sabri, is under pressure to announce a total lockdown to counter the still raging Covid-19 pandemic.

Sources close to the Prime Minister say it is to be a once-and-for-all total lockdown for as long as a month to completely rid the nation of the virus. The present scenario on Covid-19 is not encouraging.

Death rates are high for a nation of 32 million people and infected persons are also correspondingly high. All this despite strict SOPs and nearly half the population fully vaccinated in a ramped up drive.

Nevertheless, there are no signs of the virus abating and fears and concerns are real that reopening the various sectors of the economy will only serve to factor more casualties and more infected persons.

This is why the Prime Minister’s advisors are suggesting to him to clear the Covid-19 menace out of the way completely by enforcing a total lockdown although there are others who counter that doing so will drag the country backwards.

Currently, the situation is touch-and-go but Malaysians in the know are bracing themselves for even tougher and bleaker times as it looks like the only way to bring down the daily statistics of deaths and infections is by going through this time through a complete and total lockdown.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE