COMMENT | Surviving the MCO and beyond

COMMENT | Last week, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the Malaysian League series of football matches are unlikely to resume, even after the movement control order (MCO) is lifted.

When he made the announcement, the defence minister wasn’t just signalling to footballers what to expect in the months to come. Ismail was also signalling all Malaysians.

Essentially, even when the MCO is lifted, we will all still need to practise physical distancing and refrain from mass gatherings of any kind. For so long as there is no widely-available vaccine against Covid-19, we cannot expect to go back to life before the pandemic. Regrettably, not even to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri at the end of May.

Given that a vaccine will take at least a year, and continued self-restraint and unwelcome challenges will remain the order of the day, what are some ways in which we can get through this MCO and what’s beyond?

The first thing public health authorities and the media should consider doing is to stop calling our distancing measures “social distancing”. A far more accurate term would be “physical distancing”.

The fact is, while we may be physically distant, that hasn’t stopped citizens around the globe from being socially closer. For example, The Guardian columnist George Monbiot cites inspiring stories of how the virus has turned people into caring neighbours.

From India to China to South Africa to the US and all across Europe, Monbiot declares that “communities have mobilised where governments have failed”...