Dear Diary,
Today was the first day back to work for many people as we move closer to ending the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Although the majority of the states ignored or “modified” Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Conditional MCO which took effect today, there was a spike in traffic on several highways.
There were reports of long queues at pawnshops around the country. Ipoh Barat MP M. Kula Segaran claimed that people were rushing to pawn their jewellery for cash but could it also be that some went to redeem their valuables or extend the deeds on already pawned jewellery?
There were also photographs of people lining up to enter Kenanga Wholesale City which were falsely labelled as Hari Raya shoppers. They were staff awaiting mandatory health checks. They, however, didn’t practise physical distancing.
Happy International Firefighters Day to our bomba heroes and May the 4th be with all Star Wars fans.
Here’s how Day 48 of MCO unfolded.
7.35am: BACK TO NORMAL – PLUS corporate, community and public engagement head Syed Mohammed Idid Syed Ahmad Idid shares a picture that shows heavy traffic from Juru heading to the Penang Bridge (main image).
8.30am: ERRANT COMPANY – A reader says she resumed work in Selangor today. Although the instruction from her Human Resources Department is that everyone should wear a mask, the safety officer isn’t doing so. Her company is also not practising proper physical distancing. I wonder how many more face the same issues?
9.03am: MAY THE (COVID) FORCE BE WITH YOU
9.20am: DRUG DONATION – Gilead Sciences chief executive officer Daniel O’Day says its antiviral drug remdesivir will be available to doctors and patients this week. The company will donate its existing supply of the drug – 1.5 million vials – which will be enough to treat 100,000 to 200,000 patients.
10.03am: COVER UP, PLEASE – Twentytwo13 reader Christopher Choong says Mid Valley Mall won’t allow customers without a mask to enter the premises. They can buy one for RM1. Texas Chicken is practising the same.
12.27pm: FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS – Something is wrong with my Coway water dispenser. Minutes later I run out of gas while trying to boil some water. The second is easily fixed as it’s just a phone call away, but the first will take time as the agents are not allowed to visit homes yet.
1pm: GRIM FIGURES – Globally there are 3,500,517 cases and 246,893 deaths. Europe has over 1.5 million cases and over 143,000 fatalities while the US has over 1.1 million cases and 67,000 deaths.
2pm: TESTING TIME – Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob says employers must pay for its foreign workers to undergo Covid-19 tests. He also thanks our firefighters for their service.
3.38pm: UNITED FRONT – Pakatan Harapan, Bersatu and Warisan issue joint statement asking for a full Parliament sitting instead of just one day on May 18. Hopefully, the number of new cases during CMCO doesn’t spike or the government may be forced to postpone even that.
4.48pm: BACK TO DOUBLE DIGITS – After two days of more than 100 cases, today saw a drop to 55 new cases – seven of which are imported. That brings the total of cases to 6,353. The great news is there are no new deaths so fatalities remain at 105 while 71 patients were discharged, bringing the total cured to 4,484.
5pm: LIGHT MY FIRE – A song by The Doors for International Firefighters Day.
