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Malaysia's Renewed Health Crisis Raises Economic Toll

Dave Grunebaum

   KUALA LUMPUR - Alex Chong, whose company, MBA Crew, owns nine
   restaurants in Malaysia was having trouble last Friday luring customers
   in for lunch, a sign of the economic pain facing the country because of
   the COVID-19 pandemic.

   There was not a lot of foot traffic at the MyTown Shopping Centre, a
   destination mall in a commercial area, and Chong, MBA Crew's managing
   director, was standing in front of one of the company's restaurants,
   Leleh, specializing in Malaysian food.

   "Just a couple of weeks ago, we would have had a lot more foot traffic
   in the mall at this time," he told VOA.

   It has been this way across Malaysia for the past week. The country has
   seen a surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases.

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