KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported a record 3,337 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday (Jan 14), the biggest daily jump in cases since the start of the pandemic.
The state of Selangor reported the highest number of new infections – 1,036 – followed by Johor and Sabah, with 460 and 389 new infections respectively. The capital Kuala Lumpur recorded 257 new cases.
Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said there were a total of 15 more fatalities. He added that 195 patients remain in intensive care, with 86 requiring respiratory support.
Of the latest deaths, eight were reported in Sabah, three in Selangor, two in Johor, and Negeri Sembilan and Putrajaya accounted for one each. Two of the fatalities were foreigners.
Seven new clusters were also identified, taking the total number of active clusters in Malaysia to 276.
Malaysia has reported four-digit daily increases in COVID-19 cases for about a month as it struggles to contain its third wave of infections.
The police detained 389 people on Wednesday for defying the Movement Control Order (MCO) which came into force earlier at midnight, according to reports.
Malaysia's king Al-Sultan Abdullah declared a state of emergency across the country on Tuesday a day after the prime minister announced that five states, including Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor and Sabah, and the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan would come under a MCO.
Interstate travel across the country will also be in force until Jan 26 in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Sarawak will also enforce an MCO in the Sibu division, in a decision authorities took following a spike in new infections over the last several days. Sarawak reported 180 new cases on Thursday, a record daily increase for the state. The MCO will be implemented from Jan 16 to 29.
In a tweet on Thursday, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia expects to receive its first shipment of vaccines next month. One million doses are due to arrive in the first quarter of this year, while 1.7 million, 5.8 million and 4.3 million will arrive in the second, third and fourth quarters, Mr Khairy said.
The authorities plan to vaccinate “the most high-risk groups … frontline staff of the security and health sectors,” he said, followed by the elderly and “other adult populations to create herd immunity”.
“If you are a healthy adult under the age of 60 and not a frontline worker, the earliest (you can expect) to receive the vaccine would be in the third quarter of the year,” he added.
As of Thursday, Malaysia has reported a total of 147,855 COVID-19 cases, of which 33,989 are currently classified as infectious. There have also been a total of 578 deaths.
JAKARTA: Indonesia may allow companies to procure their own COVID-19 vaccines, the country's health minister said on Thursday (Jan 14), as an influential business chamber called for members to be able to inoculate staff or sell vaccines to the public.
The Southeast Asian country launched a mass immunisation campaign targeting more than 180 million people this week to help tackle one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia.
Medical and security personnel are first in line for the vaccine, but Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told parliament companies may be allowed to procure and vaccinate their staff and thereby reduce the burden on the state.
"It shouldn't start now, but later after the government has provided mandatory vaccines for health and public workers," he said, noting no final decision had been made and that authorities wanted to avoid being seen as prioritising the rich.
Indonesia currently buys and distributes vaccines for free at an estimated cost of about US$5.3 billion.
The head of Indonesia's business chamber told Reuters it had requested that some companies be allowed to import approved vaccines or buy government supplies to immunise staff or for sale.
"It's like going to the Disneyland ... if you want to go faster, there's a priority pass, but you must pay more," Rosan Roeslani said, adding businesses had already established links with vaccine producers such as Russia's Sputnik V as well as others approved by the World Health Organization.
He denied it was a privilege for the rich since the cost per injection could be below the current price for a private COVID-19 swab test.
Jahja Setiaatmadja, chief executive of one of Indonesia's biggest lenders, Bank Central Asia, said if the plan was approved the bank would like to procure vaccines for staff.
Marsha Dyas, a 30-year-old Jakarta resident, also welcomed the idea being able to buy a specific vaccine from a provider. But Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, warned a "private vaccination programme will create the risk that the poorest and most vulnerable in the outer islands will be trampled in the stampede for vaccines".
JAKARTA: Indonesia may allow companies to procure their own COVID-19 vaccines, the country's health minister said on Thursday (Jan 14), as an influential business chamber called for members to be able to inoculate staff or sell vaccines to the public.
The Southeast Asian country launched a mass immunisation campaign targeting more than 180 million people this week to help tackle one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia.
Medical and security personnel are first in line for the vaccine, but Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told parliament companies may be allowed to procure and vaccinate their staff and thereby reduce the burden on the state.
"It shouldn't start now, but later after the government has provided mandatory vaccines for health and public workers," he said, noting no final decision had been made and that authorities wanted to avoid being seen as prioritising the rich.
Indonesia currently buys and distributes vaccines for free at an estimated cost of about US$5.3 billion.
The head of Indonesia's business chamber told Reuters it had requested that some companies be allowed to import approved vaccines or buy government supplies to immunise staff or for sale.
"It's like going to the Disneyland ... if you want to go faster, there's a priority pass, but you must pay more," Rosan Roeslani said, adding businesses had already established links with vaccine producers such as Russia's Sputnik V as well as others approved by the World Health Organization.
He denied it was a privilege for the rich since the cost per injection could be below the current price for a private COVID-19 swab test.
Jahja Setiaatmadja, chief executive of one of Indonesia's biggest lenders, Bank Central Asia, said if the plan was approved the bank would like to procure vaccines for staff.
Marsha Dyas, a 30-year-old Jakarta resident, also welcomed the idea being able to buy a specific vaccine from a provider. But Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, warned a "private vaccination programme will create the risk that the poorest and most vulnerable in the outer islands will be trampled in the stampede for vaccines".
JAKARTA: Among the first in the queue for coronavirus vaccines in Indonesia has been one conspicuous group: social media influencers.
Alongside President Joko Widodo as the world's fourth most populous country kicked off its vaccination drive on Wednesday (Jan 13) was Indonesian television personality Raffi Ahmad, who boasts almost 50 million followers on Instagram.
“Alhamdulillah a vaccine ... don’t be afraid of vaccines,” the 33-year-old celebrity wrote under a video of him receiving the shot, next to a heart emoji and another of Indonesia's red and white flag.
Deciding who should be first in line for limited vaccine doses has been a challenge around the world, with many countries prioritising vulnerable medics and the elderly.
Senior health ministry official, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the decision to include influencers alongside almost 1.5 million healthcare workers in the first round of inoculations was a deliberate government communications strategy.
Although Indonesia faces the most severe coronavirus outbreak in Southeast Asia - with more than 869,000 cases and 25,000 deaths - there has been scepticism around the safety and efficacy of any vaccine, and in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, whether it is halal, or allowed under Islam.
Indonesians are among the top global users of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The health ministry did not say how many influencers would be first in the vaccine line, but others due to receive a shot on Thursday included musicians Ariel, of the band Noah, and Risa Saraswati.
Ahyani Raksanagara, head of Bandung’s health agency, told Reuters the artists would “hopefully convey positive influence and messages” about the vaccines, and especially to young people.
A poll last month showed just 37 per cent of Indonesians were willing to be vaccinated while 40 per cent would consider it, and 17 per cent refused.
Some doctors have raised doubts over Indonesia's initial use of Chinese company Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccine - with studies from Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey showing efficacies ranging from 50 to 91 per cent.
But in another possible boost for chances of acceptance, the country's top Islamic council has deemed the vaccine halal.
However the decision to include social media influencers on the priority list backfired somewhat when photos of Raffi showed him partying hours after he was given the injection - which does not confer immediate immunity.
The images of him unmasked and flouting social distancing protocols with a group of friends drew criticism on social media, with calls for him to set a better example.
"It also shows the government is inconsistent in prioritising who gets the vaccine first,” said Irma Hidayana, cofounder of pandemic data initiative LaporCOVID-19. "They should’ve done it with another health worker, maybe, not an influencer."
Health ministry official Nadia noted that "when you’re vaccinated, you still have to abide by health protocols and not be careless in enforcing them".
Zubairi Djoerban of the Indonesian Medical Association said the strategy to hire influencers could only work if "influencers are briefed about vaccine and COVID-19 so they can be agents of change".
Police said they are investigating whether Raffi broke the law, while he has offered a public apology.
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump became the first US president in history to be impeached twice when the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday (Jan 13) to charge him with inciting last week's mob attack on Congress.
The Democratic-led House's 232-197 passage of a single article of impeachment in a historic vote in the waning days of Trump's four-year term in office does not remove him from office.
Rather it moves the drama over his political fate to the Senate, which remains in the hands of Trump's fellow Republicans for now but later this month will be under Democratic control.
In the end, 10 Republicans broke ranks, including the party's number three in the House, Representative Liz Cheney.
President Donald Trump urged Americans to be "united" and avoid violence in his first comments after being impeached, while avoiding any mention of impeachment at all.
In the videotaped speech, Trump said he was "calling on all Americans to overcome the passions of the moment and join together as one American people. Let us choose to move forward united for the good of our families".
Repudiating his supporters who assaulted Congress a week ago, triggering his second impeachment in the House of Representatives, Trump said "there is never a justification for violence. No excuses, no exceptions: America is a nation of laws".
"Those who engaged in the attacks last week will be brought to justice," he said.
Reflecting the fear of upheaval, armed National Guards deployed across the capital and central streets were blocked to traffic.
In the Capitol building itself, guards in full camouflage and carrying assault rifles assembled, some of them grabbing naps early Wednesday under the ornate statues and historical paintings.
Members of the National Guard take a rest in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington DC on Jan 13, 2021 ahead of the House vote impeaching US President Donald Trump. (Photo: AFP/Saul Loeb)
Trump survived a first impeachment almost exactly a year ago when the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him of abusing his office to try and get dirt on Biden's family before the election.
This time, his downfall was triggered by a speech he delivered to a crowd on the National Mall on Jan 6, telling them that Biden had stolen the presidential election and that they needed to march on Congress and show "strength".
Amped up on weeks of election conspiracy theories pushed by Trump, the mob then stormed into the Capitol, fatally wounded one police officer, wrecked furniture and forced terrified lawmakers to hide, interrupting a ceremony to put the legal stamp on Biden's victory.
One protester was shot dead, and three other people died of "medical emergencies", bringing the toll to five.
"The president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said on the House floor before the vote. "He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love."
The article of impeachment against President Donald Trump on a table before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., signs it in an engrossment ceremony before transmission to the Senate for trial on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Democratic lawmaker Ilhan Omar branded Trump a "tyrant", saying that "for us to able to survive as a functioning democracy there has to be accountability".
But Nancy Mace, a newly-elected Republican congresswoman said that while lawmakers "need to hold the president accountable" over the violence, the speed of the process "poses great questions about the constitutionality".
The House's top Republican, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, said that while Trump deserves censure, hurriedly impeaching will "further divide this nation".
MCCONNELL OPEN TO IMPEACHMENT
Trump, who has been stripped of his social media megaphones by Twitter and Facebook, and finds himself increasingly ostracised in the business world, is struggling to impose his message - let alone any kind of resistance.
His refusal to accept any responsibility for the horrifying scenes on Jan 6 - including his insistence on Tuesday that his speech was "totally appropriate" - has infuriated allies and opponents alike.
US President Donald Trump walks by supporters outside the White House on Jan 12, 2021 in Washington, DC before his departure to Alamo, Texas. (Photo: AFP/Brendan Smialowski)
The main question now is to what extent former Republican allies in the Senate will turn on their party's figurehead. Last year, they acquitted Trump overwhelmingly after the House impeached him for abuse of office.
Powerful Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has made clear there is no time before Trump's Jan 20 exit to hold an impeachment trial, given that the Senate is in recess until Jan 19.
However, he said on Wednesday that he was open to the possibility of voting to convict Trump in a trial, which could still be held after Biden takes over.
"I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate," McConnell said.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that McConnell is signalling privately that he believes Trump did commit impeachable offences.
This presents a potentially fatal shift in the ground under Trump's feet, because it could lead other Republican senators to join in convicting Trump with the goal of turning the page in the turbulent relationship between the party and former reality TV host and real estate magnate.
US Vice President Mike Pence said he was opposed to invoking the 25th Amendment, a process that could have led to the ouster of President Donald Trump before his term ends on Jan 20, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Mandel Ngan)
Meanwhile, the increasingly toothless Trump's social media woes deepened late Tuesday when video-sharing giant YouTube said it was suspending his official account for at least a week, out of concern his videos could incite violence.
He is also being cut out by the business world, threatening his financial future once he leaves the White House.
The latest blow to the Trump empire was when the mayor of his native New York City, Bill de Blasio, announced Wednesday a termination of contracts to run a golf course, two ice-skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park.
"New York City doesn't do business with insurrectionists," de Blasio, a Democrat, tweeted.
