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The pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s lives. After keeping a relatively tight lid on the spread of the virus for most of 2020, confirmed cases in Malaysia surged from late 2020 through 2021, followed by a much larger surge of Omicron cases in early 2022. Nevertheless, with the country’s impressive progress in vaccination, Malaysia has entered an endemic phase starting April 2022.
The World Bank is conducting a series of surveys at household and firm levels to generate near-real-time insights into the impact of the COVID-19 crisis that can be used to inform the design of policies and programs that meet the needs of the society and businesses in Malaysia.
In addition to the direct morbidity and mortality impacts of the disease, measures to control the spread of the virus have had far-reaching effects on people’s lives and livelihoods. It is widely expected that COVID-19 impacted unequally on the welfare of households, with the poor and vulnerable that experience the most adverse effects. There are also concerns that the recovery may also be uneven, pushing existing inequalities to the forefront. Three rounds of High Frequency (HiFy) phone-based survey are conducted to monitor socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Malaysian households and individuals over time. This nationally representative survey covers various topics, including access to basic services such as health care and education, employment and income changes, household concerns and coping strategies, safety nets, digital adoption, and satisfaction with the government’s response during the COVID-19 crisis. By re-interviewing the same respondents in all rounds, the panel survey offers several advantages, most importantly it allows more robust analysis of the evolving impact of the pandemic and recovery process among households.
The COVID-19 Business Pulse Survey (BPS) is a rapid survey designed to measure the various channels of impact of COVID-19 on firms, firm adjustment strategies, and public policy responses. The World Bank, in collaboration with a private survey company, conducted the 1st round of the Malaysia BPS in October 2020. Firms were sampled randomly from an online business panel database, which consists of 100,000 plus companies in all sectors and sizes, across Peninsular and East Malaysia.
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