Stricter SOPs needed and don't let up on the MCO yet, say Sabahans

KOTA KINABALU: More Sabahans want a stricter SOP after the movement control order ends, with some saying that it would make no sense to relax on the MCO yet.

One of these Sabahans is 36-year-old Abigail Magandai, who said that the state still has daily Covid-19 cases and it would make no sense to go lenient on the MCO.

She said even now with the state under the MCO, there are still many vehicles on the road and people carrying out activities.

“We want to control this virus, so we need to do it right to make it efficient and not a waste of time, ” said the mother of three.

Similarly, 34-year-old Duris Baga said she hopes that the government will tighten the SOP instead of loosening up.

“We are under the MCO but why do I feel that we are going about our daily lives as usual, ” she said.

The essential services worker said she noticed the heavy traffic and openings of various businesses regardless of its industry in some parts of the city every day on her way to work in Kolombong near here.

“We managed to curb the spread of the virus after the strict MCO last year, but are we doing it right this time, ” she asked.

As for 30-year-old civil servant Cleophas J Gordon, he feels that as long as the authorities can make sure that the public adheres strictly to the SOPs, the state should switch from MCO to the conditional MCO after Feb 4 as it will take a toll on the economy if it continues.

“For those who think this is a debate of economy versus lives, in the long run the economy is the livelihood of the people and a poor economy means more jobs lost and an increased poverty rate, ” he said.

Cleophas said such conditions tie in to public health as they could result in an increase in suicide rates and declining health as stress levels go up.

Similarly, 45-year-old office worker John Lee said the pandemic has taken on the economy and added that this has affected thousands of people

Lee said that a better solution is to have a strict conditional MCO implemented after Feb 4.

He added that the government can call it anything they want as long as the SOPs are strictly adhered to, which would see a reduced level of unnecessary movement amidst the reopening of businesses.

Lee said schools can reopen at a later stage when things have settled down.

“I hope states like Sabah and Selangor among others can have the vaccine first as we have the highest number of cases, ” Lee said.

Meanwhile, 35-year-old baker Ava Orlean feels that the MCO now is not as strict as the first round in March last year, where there were roadblocks everywhere manned by policemen and the armed forces.

She said now, people seemed to have a reduced level of fear of Covid-19, adding that this is mainly because they are confident that there will be a cure or vaccine or that protects them against this deadly virus.

“We fought a good fight and managed to bring the numbers down after a proper lockdown last time, but now? I am not sure, ” she said.

Ava said there is no way to bring the cases down to zero if SOPs are not strict enough.

“Last round, we survived. People worked from home, businesses could still commence digitally and the people really adhered to SOPs, ” she said.