In wake of shutdown, who will help them?

COMMENT | The coronavirus is deadly in its effect especially on the most vulnerable members of society.

Old people must be protected. They must stay at home and remain isolated. But who will look after them? Who will keep them company? Who will feed them or provide them groceries? Some supermarkets have an hour in the morning for senior citizens. But senior citizens cannot always come on their own. Family members will need to accompany them.

But there are many younger people who suffer disability or chronic illness. Who will look after them? Many are looked after in homes or in care centres. Many of those who look after them are volunteers working without pay. The infirm and disabled people will need to be looked after too.

There are many orphanages and old folks’ homes in the country. They are run by charities. Many of these homes are run by churches. These charities are funded by donations from well-wishers. This crisis will affect their funding. Who will look after them?

There are soup kitchens run by churches and other organisations throughout the country. They provide meals to thousands of needy people. Who will look after them? Without these meals they will go hungry. Some may starve. Many restaurants in UK and America are distributing meals to the homes of the poor, old folks’ homes and orphanages for free.

Many countries have decided that the most effective way to contain the spread of the virus is through lockdown and social distancing. Total lockdown is not possible because essential services must be maintained. But all non-essential services and businesses must be closed. For now.

Only those with high incomes and savings can stock up food. Those on daily wages or little income need to work in order to buy food and essentials. If they cannot work, they have no income and without income they cannot buy food and other essentials. Who will help them?

The lockdown is till the end of the month. Presumably employers will pay their employees for the period of lockdown. What happens if the lockdown is extended? Some employers may not have the capacity to pay their employees without the cashflow from a functioning business. Who will look after these employees?

An extended lockdown will cause many businesses to face cash flow problems. They may not be able to pay their employees, their rent, their electricity bills, their water bills, their taxes, their suppliers, etc. They will need help or else they will have to close. Who will help them?

The restricted entry in and out of the country and similar restrictions imposed by many countries will affect many businesses including airlines, tour companies, cruise-ship owners, hotels and all those businesses depending on travellers and tourists. These are businesses required by us when the lockdown is lifted and the virus is defeated. Who will help them to ensure that they are there when the crisis is over?

The situation with the 300,000 Malaysians working in Singapore was not well thought out. We should simply have treated Singapore as a Malaysian state with workers moving in and out daily. We can also rely on Singapore to monitor the health of these workers closely. Hopefully, some reconsideration of the issue is taking place.

Essential services will have to function as normal. In fact, hospital staff will have to step up and many will be pushed beyond capacity. Schools are closed. Who will look after the children of those who work in essential services? The UK has decided to keep schools open to look after the children whose parents work in essential services. We are not doing that just now.

Much work to be done

Those who operate market gardens must continue to tend their gardens and send their vegetables to the market. Those who breed livestock will have to continue to look after their livestock. Those who own plantations will have to continue harvesting, processing and distributing their products including exporting them.

Those manufacturing goods required for the domestic and export markets will have to continue manufacturing and exporting them in order to ensure that their buyers do not look for alternative sources for these goods.

Those manufacturing medical equipment and medical supplies should be encouraged to ramp up their production to meet the needs of the nation. Distilleries in America are producing sanitisers and distributing them for free for Americans.

We have five million foreign workers in the country. Many live in crowded premises. Some are illegal. They will be afraid to seek medical help. They may not be able to afford sanitisers. Many are employed in establishments cooking and serving food. They are at risk and would place others at risk. Who looks after them?

China built many new hospitals in record time to cope with the surge of patients afflicted by the virus. America is considering mobilising the military to set up tent hospitals. What is our situation? What is our capacity?

UK and America and many other advanced countries are short of medical supplies including hospital beds, masks and hazmat suits as well as respirators or ventilators. There are limited suppliers for these products. What are we doing to ensure an adequate supply of these products? Are there local manufacturers? Should we assist them to ramp up production? China has offered assistance, which is good.

Many people will become unemployed if the lockdown is extended. They will have families to support and bills to pay. They will need assistance. Banks should be asked to declare a moratorium on overdue loans. The Inland Revenue Board should wait for their tax returns.

Do we have experts who are doing studies and modelling to determine probable numbers to help us establish what our needs are going to be? There is also a need for financial modelling to determine how much money we will require and where that money will come from.

There is much work to be done. And I hope that we have assembled the experts to help us develop a well-coordinated strategy to meet the challenges ahead. Our lockdown is until the end of the month. What is our strategy moving forward?

DAVID DASS is a senior lawyer and a Malaysiakini subscriber.