MySejahtera data shows more check-ins during lockdown than MCO 3.0

 

More people checked in with the MySejahtera application during the stringent total lockdown (June 1 onwards) than during the movement control order (MCO) 3.0 period, according to data released by the Health Ministry.

Checking in with the MySejahtera app is a requirement when visiting premises away from one’s home, a tool designed for contact tracing during the Covid-19 pandemic, but doing so can also give an indication of the movement of people.

According to the data released on GitHub, the total number of unique individuals checking-in dropped sharply after the implementation of MCO 3.0 starting on May 12 in all states (May 7 for Kuala Lumpur) but the number bounced back during the subsequent total lockdown period.

This is despite tighter standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the total lockdown duration compared to the MCO 3.0 period.

The check-in data included the number of total visits, unique visits and unique locations. "Unique" means repeated visits are only counted once.

S'gor check-ins increased 13.3 percent

The average daily individual check-ins in Selangor was 1.98 million during the total lockdown (June 1 to July 2) period, an increase of 13.3 percent from 1.75 million during MCO 3.0 (May 12 to May 31).

Almost all states saw an increase in average daily individuals checking in during the total lockdown period compared to MCO 3.0, ranging from 1.6 percent (Sarawak) to 30.8 percent (Perlis).

The exceptions are Labuan, which decreased by 31.8 percent, followed by Sabah at 1.9 percent, Putrajaya at 1.5 percent and Kuala Lumpur at 0.2 percent.

The rise in check-ins was in tandem with the increasing number of Covid-19 cases, particularly in the Klang Valley, prompting the government to further tighten the lockdown in parts of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

However, the enhanced MCO enforced in large areas of Selangor and 15 localities in Kuala Lumpur from July 3 to July 16 saw an uneven decrease in check-ins.

The average daily individual check-ins in Selangor during the enhanced MCO declined 7.1 percent to 1.84 million, compared with 1.98 million during the total lockdown.

However, the change in average daily individual check-ins in Kuala Lumpur was marginal, registering a decrease of 1.2 percent from 1.40 million to 1.38 million.

This was likely due, in part, to the fact that the enhanced MCO in Selangor was more widespread compared to its limited scope in Kuala Lumpur.

The government had implemented several additional SOPs for MCO 3.0 to limit the movement of the people in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.

While it allowed all economic sectors to operate, it also made work-from-home a mandatory requirement and prohibited people from dining in restaurants.

The restrictions included limiting a resident's area of movement to within 10km and reducing the maximum number of passengers in vehicles from three to two.

Only 17 economic and essential services sectors were allowed to operate, with a capacity of 60 percent of the employees at work.

Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who at the time was the senior minister in charge of Covid-19 health SOPs, had said the lockdown would reduce the number of workers coming in to work from 15 million to 1.5 million.

Total check-ins dropped significantly for MCO 3.0

Overall, the total number of individual check-ins in Malaysia slowly increased in December 2020 though it dropped after MCO 2.0 was imposed in January 2021. It gradually increased again and reached a peak in mid-April.

The number slightly decreased between mid-April and early May and dropped significantly after MCO 3.0 was implemented.

 The data showed that the national total checked-in individuals was 8.55 million (total check-in number 23.3 million) on May 11 and showed a significant decrease (75 percent) to 2.1 million (total check-in number 3 million) on May 30.

The numbers bounced back for most states after the total lockdown was implemented on June 1. The numbers remained above six million after June 8, and are now are on an uptrend, moving towards pre-MCO 3.0 levels.

On the other hand, when comparing numbers for the MCO 2.0 (January to March 2021) and the total lockdown period (June onwards), the average individual check-in number for most states increased between 0.27 percent (Kuala Lumpur) and 45.07 percent (Sabah), except for Labuan and Putrajaya which saw a decrease of 25.09 percent and 8.5 percent respectively.

Before the MCO 3.0 started, there were 3,973 new Covid-19 cases on May 11, and this increased by more than four times to 20,780 on Aug 11.

Many factors can affect the total number of check-ins, including the total number of MySejahtera registered users, the willingness of users to check in using MySejahtera and people going for their vaccinations. The data released by the Health Ministry doesn’t show the total number of MySejahtera users.

Lim: Lockdown didn't achieve the desired effect

Public health policy researcher Lim Chee Han told Malaysiakini in an interview that even the most stringent lockdown did not appear to have achieved its desired effect.

Lim, a senior researcher at the Third World Network, said for the long period of the total lockdown, Selangorians only managed to reduce their activities or interactions by about a quarter while the number of locations open was reduced by 20 to 30 percent, compared to the mid-April peak activity level.

“The people’s activity level peaked in mid-April and then Covid-19 cases were also picking up from there, leading to the MCO 3.0 being firstly implemented in the six districts in Selangor,” Lim said.

He said in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, the MCO 3.0 and total lockdown periods brought activity level down to at most 50 percent but this later crept back up while the total lockdown had a milder reduction of about 25 percent until the enhanced MCO dented it a little.

According to Lim's ground observation in the Petaling district, one of the districts with the highest daily Covid-19 cases in the country, the trend is similar to the MySejahtera data for the lockdown period.

Public health policy researcher Lim Chee Han

“Even if I don’t go out that much and work from home, with at the most twice-weekly trips for grocery shopping, I notice the condominium residents car park is increasingly vacant during the day, ” he said.

He also noticed that traffic flow on the Federal Highway was getting heavier by day, parking lots in front of shop lots getting filled up faster and an increasing number of roadside stalls selling takeaway food.

“Hence the so-called measure stringency of any MCO can only be true and effective if there is total compliance and strict enforcement from the authority,” Lim stressed.

Nonetheless, he reminded that the numbers for check-ins using MySejahtera cannot serve as an absolute number for people active outside of their homes, though it still can be useful as an indicator for the level of people’s interactions and activities outside.

“For example, if you stay home and order food or grocery by delivery, then delivery persons will have to sign in, undermining the reality that many do stay at home or work from home,” he said.

Malaysiakini has contacted Ismail and Senior Foreign Minister (Security Cluster) Hishammuddin Hussein for their comments.

Hishammuddin had recently taken over Ismail’s task of announcing movement control order SOP enforcement activities. - Mkini

✍ Credit given to the original owner of this post : ☕ Malaysians Must Know the TRUTH

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