PANDEMIK COVID-19: PENDEKATAN KERAJAAN MALAYSIA DALAM MENGURUS KESELAMATAN NEGARA

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) coronavirus or better known as Covid-19 was first detected on 17 November 2019 in Hubei province, China, and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. Until 1 November 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has spread to 215 countries worldwide where the total number of cases recorded is 45,942,902 cases and 1,192,644 deaths. In Malaysia, a total of 31,548 cases and 249 deaths were recorded. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused economic paralysis and affected the lives of communities around the world. The main objective that will be discussed in this article is the Malaysian government's approach in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure that the country's socio-economy is not affected where it could affect national security. In this article, the method of collecting information is through references in websites, e-journals, e-newspapers, and related reports. The results show that the Malaysian government has taken two main approaches in managing national security, namely through the health and economy of the people. The health approach is through efforts to curb the Covid-19 epidemic from spreading further in the country which can have a negative impact on the economy and society of Malaysians. Next, the people's economic approach implemented is through the People's Economic Stimulus Package announced by the government to help the people affected by the Covid-19 epidemic and ensure that the country's economy can be restored. This approach has succeeded in maintaining national peace as well as preventing the occurrence of things that could affect national security such as riots or demonstrations by the people due to dissatisfaction with the government.