Despite that, some Malaysians are feeling the full brunt of COVID-19, prompting the government to introduce four financial initiatives to help those who are affected by the virus as well as the MCO.

However, the initiatives might not be enough as a whole lot of Malaysians are facing unemployment because of the pandemic.

Companies not well-equipped

The Sun reported that up to one million Malaysians could lose their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SME Association of Malaysia president Datuk Michael Kang told the daily that the 14-day MCO are affecting a lot small and medium enterprises (SME) in Malaysia.

If 10 per cent of the SMEs go bust in the coming months, Kang noted, a lot of Malaysians will be out of a job as the SME industry currently employs almost 10 million employees.

Kang added that a lot of the businesses out there are not well-equipped to deal with the pandemic, and those who are not well-equipped are unlikely to survive the crisis.

“If the pandemic is not addressed soon, I would say easily 5 per cent to 10 per cent of SMEs could be forced to close for good.

“This is because they don’t have the financial capability to survive. Most companies only have two months of reserves to cover their operational costs. We can expect to see this happening in the next six months,” he was quoted as saying.