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Community leaders and volunteers distribute food aid to families in need living at PPR Lembah Subang, Selangor. Photo: Yayasan Hasanah

During the lockdown in June, Uma Devi, 39, and her family contracted Covid-19. All nine of them were quarantined in their home in Semenyih, Selangor, because the hospitals were full at the time.

They didn’t have any money to buy food or other necessities because Uma Devi’s husband Ganesh, 39, was a day worker and was unable to go out to work. They had five children aged 14, 10, seven, five and two to feed, and Ganesh’s aged parents were also living with them.