THE director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Hidden in his terse statement was an ominous warning: “We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled at the same time.”
Given that the world is more integrated today that ever before, pandemics can disrupt international trade and supply chains. This in turn will affect health, transport, tourism and trade sectors across the globe. In South-East Asia, members of Asean have not taken a coordinated response yet despite the serious threat of the pandemic. Every country has implemented different strategies. Thus far, Malaysia has taken the most stringent action by implementing a two-week national movement control order (MCO).