SINGAPORE – After a day – and many decades before – of frantic activity, the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints linking Singapore and Malaysia were empty of traffic on Wednesday morning (March 18).

In the first such development in most people’s living memories, the Woodlands Causeway and Tuas Second Link, which usually see about 415,000 travellers daily, shut normal operations as Malaysia proceeded with a two-week lockdown of its borders to stem the coronavirus spread.

The order by recently appointed Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was announced on Monday night and subsequently imposed as the clock struck midnight on Wednesday.

All Malaysians have been barred from travelling abroad, including some 300,000 working in Singapore who commute between both countries daily.

Malaysians returning from overseas must undergo a health inspection and self-quarantine for 14 days. There is also be a ban on all foreign tourists and visitors to the country.

The announcement on Monday led to a frantic rush on both sides of the Causeway on Tuesday afternoon as drivers and pedestrians tried to beat the two-week lockdown.

Singaporeans holidaying in Malaysia who want to drive back home can still cross the Causeway.

On Tuesday, following concerns about the import of food products, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong assured Singaporeans that his counterpart had reassured him that the flow of goods and cargo between Singapore and Malaysia would continue in a phone call.

The Government is working with employers and trade associations to provide cheap accommodation for Malaysian workers who wished to stay here in the interim.

The Malaysia lockdown is expected to last through March 31.

The Woodlands Causeway was completed in 1923 and the Tuas Second Link opened to traffic in 1998.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected nearly 200,000 people globally and claimed about 8,000 lives as of Wednesday morning, has upended international norms, with countries across the world imposing strict border controls and limiting their citizens’ movements.

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