The covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of

coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome

coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is a novel pneumonia disease originating in Wuhan, was
confirmed by the World Health Organization on January 12, 2020 before becoming an
outbreak in all countries. As of 20 March 2022, with over 3,900,000 confirmed covid-19
cases, over 270,000 active cases, over 34,000 deaths, and more than 53 million tests, the
country is currently ranked third in the number of covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia behind
Vietnam and Indonesia, and fourth in the number of covid-19 deaths in Southeast Asia
behind Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Every countries in the world are facing this critical situation and quick actions had
been taken by government in each country to face the pandemic and saving lives of people. In
Malaysia, there are several approaches taken by government of Malaysia in combatting the
covid-19 pandemic. The first approaches by government is announcing a partial lockdown on
18 March 2020. During the lockdown, people are not allowed to go out from home unless one
of family members can go out to buy groceries and necessary things. During this lockdown,
all business centers, factories, offices, government offices, nurseries, schools and so on are
ordered by the government to be closed. For offices employers and employees, work are done
from home. The schools are also practising teaching from home using either gadget which
handphone through the whatsapp and also laptop for online classes.

On 3 April, a spike in 217 new cases was reported, bringing the total number to 3,333.
The Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah attributed this spike to active
detection in areas affected by Enhanced Movement Controlled Order, a stricter version of the
MCO. Due to rising cases, the Government extended the movement control order until 28
April. The public is prohibited from mass gatherings or attending massive events including
religious, sports, social and cultural activities. All worshipping locations and business
premises should be closed except for supermarkets, public markets, grocery stores and
convenience stores that sells everyday necessities. All religious activities for muslim in
mosques including Friday prayers are aprohibited in line with the decision made on 15 March
2020 by the Special Muzakarah Committee Meeting of the National Fatwa Council (MKI).

Second approaches made by the government is impose the Malaysians returning from
abroad are required to undergo health check and self-quarantine for 14 days. As we know,
Malaysia is visits by tourists from all over the world each year and this situation is dangerous
if it is being allowed as usual because it can be a risk for people inside Malaysia. Even
Malaysians who working abroad for example in Singapore are required to undergo health
check and self-quarantine. The returning Malaysians need to stay at the hotel during the
quarantine period issued by the government for this purpose. People at the airport need to
queue up for covid-19 test before could be allowed to enter Malaysia. If negative they can
pass the gate but if negative they will be restricted from coming in or out of the country and
need to go for quarantine. During this period, tourist and foreign visitors are restricted to
enter the country. This situation has been challenging for families who had family members
who working abroad because they cannot meet until the Moving Control Order end.
Employers who employs foreign workers also cannot bring in new worker during this period.

The third approaches taken by the government in managing the covid-19 pandemic is
ordering the compulsory of wearing face mask in public spaces such as markets and public
transportation from 1 August. If the people fail to do so they will face a RM1,000 fine. Other
approaches in medical context is the operation of National Crisis Preparedness and Response
Centre (CPRC) under the Ministry of Health Malaysia. In early February 2020, 57 hospitals
were reported to provide screening services for coronavirus, while among them, 26
government hospitals are responsible for the confirmation of coronavirus and the suspected
patients. As the trend of infections increse, a further total of 409 sites across the country have
been gazetted by the federal government as quarantine zones for coronavirus patients
including public universities, community colleges, technical institutes, former National
Service (PLKN) camps, training centres, polytechnics and hotels owned by federal ministries,
departments, agencies and statutory bodies.On 2 May 2020, 5,484 beds at 40 hospitals, 3,873
beds (in addition to 2,100 beds on standby) at 26 hospital extension centres/low-risk COVID-
19 centres, 422 ICU beds, and 1,059 ventilators have been allocated for COVID-19 patients.
During this period, any persons who is positive with covid-19 will be took to the quarantine
zones by ambulance. They will be observed for about one week and if their conditions is
getting better or the risk is low, they will be discharge after one week.

The fourth approaches taken by the government in managing the covid-19 pandemic
is issuing the immunization programme. Between November 2020 and January 2021, the
Malaysian government make agreements with several governments, international
organizations, and companies including the Chinese government, AstraZeneca, Covax,
Pfizer, Pharmaniaga Berhad and Duopharma to procure various covid-19 vaccine stocks for
the country. The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was
appointed as the Coordinating Minister for the immunization program. During the
immunization programme, the first batch is mostly for the front liners and they are being
registered through their departments. The centers for getting the covid-19 immunization is all
over the country for example in Putrajaya, one of the centers is at Dewan Seroja situated at
Precint 15. People who wish to get themselves vaccinated must updated their My Sejahtera
status. It is an application that need to be downloaded by every Malaysians when the
pandemic begin. Once their turn had reach, it will appear in the My Sejahtera status and the
officers in charge will also informed them through calls and text messaging.

For conclusion, the government of Malaysia had done many approaches in managing
covid-19 pandemic. All the efforts made by the government are mostly successful for
example the vaccination programme which had decrease the number of cases although there
is some death reported due to the vaccination. The Movement Control Order and restriction
for tourist to enter the country is also a good approaches made by the government. Other
than that, the centers for quarantine zone set by the government is also a great effort as people
can quarantine in a comfortable place with provided facilities and at the same time not
affecting their family members. The citizens or the people must always take care of
themselves, follow the Standard Operation Procedure at public spaces, and taking care the
childrens and elderly. The continuos cooperation between the government and the citizens is
needed in order to stop the chain of covid-19 and hopefully the world will free from this
disease forever.