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Kamis, 27 Mei 2021

Malaysian singer Siti Nurhaliza and husband fined RM20,000 for baby's ceremony which breached COVID-19 protocols - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian celebrity Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin and her husband, Khalid Mohamad Jiwa, were each given a fine of RM10,000 (US$2,400) for breaching COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) during a religious ceremony known as ‘tahnik’ for her newborn baby in April.

Three others including religious minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri and celebrity preachers Azhar Idrus and Don Daniyal, were also issued a RM2,000 fine each.

Berita Harian Malaysia quoted the Selangor police chief as saying on Thursday (May 27) that several other celebrity couples who were present at the event had also been fined.

The singer and her husband hosted the event to bless their newborn on Apr 26 at their residence in Bukit Antarabangsa, Ampang. She gave birth to her second child, a baby boy Muhammad Afwa on Apr 19.

READ: Record number of new COVID-19 cases in Malaysia for third straight day

READ: Johor sultan urges Malaysia government to consider full lockdown if COVID-19 cases continue to rise

Selangor police had opened an investigation into the religious ceremony after reports were lodged that the event was alleged to have violated COVID-19 preventive measures under Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO), which banned interstate travel among other things.

Several prominent individuals were said to have crossed state borders to attend the event at the singer’s residence.

Following the police investigation, Siti Nurhaliza issued a statement to clarify that some of her guests including the minister only dropped in briefly to say a few prayers and left soon after.

She added that the ceremony was held in three sessions to avoid overcrowding.

READ: Siti Nurhaliza says she didn’t breach COVID-19 restrictions for baby's ceremony

READ: Commentary - Little wonder why Malaysians are angry over celebrity Neelofa’s repeated COVID-19 breaches

News about celebrities breaching health protocols has been getting a lot of attention among Malaysians. Some have expressed unhappiness that celebrities and politicians may have been allowed to get off lightly with fines, causing the perception of double standards in the enforcement of the SOPs.

Another well-known celebrity Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor, or Neelofa, has also been under the spotlight. She is facing charges for alleged breaches of the SOPs including failure to observe the movement regulation and to wear a proper face mask.

In an interview aired over the weekend, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin stated that there are no double standards when it comes to enforcing health protocols.

"We don’t care if it’s a minister or prime minister who breaks the law... (If) there is proof, then they will not be spared from the fine,” he said.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments

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2021-05-27 09:27:13Z
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Record number of new COVID-19 cases in Malaysia for third straight day - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Thursday (May 27) reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases for the third straight day, with 7,857 infections.

The Klang Valley area accounted for about 40 per cent of the new cases, with 2,675 cases in Selangor and 561 cases in Kuala Lumpur.

Case numbers have also continued to climb in the northern states. Kelantan reported 754 new cases while Terengganu and Kedah had 282 infections and 441 infections respectively. There were 549 new cases in Johor and 772 infections in Sarawak.

The health ministry said there was an increase in the number of fatalities that were “brought in dead” for the period of May 1 to May 25. These are COVID-19 victims who did not die in a hospital.

A total of 93 “brought in dead” cases were reported for this period, compared to 35 victims in April this year. This is an increase of 165.7 per cent, said the ministry.

READ: Johor sultan urges Malaysia government to consider full lockdown if COVID-19 cases continue to rise

READ: Malaysia’s daily COVID-19 cases may breach 8,000 in June if regulations are not followed: Health ministry

Malaysia COVID-19 victims brought in dead May 27, 2021 — A graph showing the number of "brought in dead" COVID-19 cases in Malaysia from May 1 to May 25, 2021. (Image: Twitter/KKMalaysia)

Further information on the new cases will be provided on Thursday evening.

The health ministry also provided an update on cases that were detected two weeks after the Hari Raya Puasa celebrations.

Twelve community clusters in seven states were detected. A total of 2,541 people were tested, with 470 confirmed to have COVID-19, the health ministry said in a tweet.

Of these cases, there was one fatality in Selangor.

READ: Little wonder why Malaysians are angry over celebrity Neelofa’s repeated COVID-19 breaches

READ: 'Increasingly challenging' situation at Selangor quarantine centre due to growing admissions: Health department

Virus Outbreak Malaysia Photo Gallery — Health workers wearing personal protective equipment sanitise during the funeral of a COVID-19 victim at Nirvana memorial in Semenyih, Malaysia, on May 26, 2021. (Photo: AP/Vincent Thian)

The health ministry added that the majority of current COVID-19 patients are those in the younger age group of 20 to 40. Most of these cases are “sporadic”, with no clear source of infection.

The daily number of new COVID-19 cases in Malaysia has steadily increased since the end of January, and breached the 6,000-mark for the first time on May 19.

As of Thursday, Malaysia has reported a total of 541,224 COVID-19 infections.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments

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2021-05-27 08:51:47Z
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Rabu, 26 Mei 2021

Australia's Victoria state to enter snap one-week COVID-19 lockdown - CNA

SYDNEY: Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria will enter a one-week COVID-19 lockdown, forcing its near 7 million residents to remain home except for essential businesses in a bid to contain a fresh virus cluster.

Victoria state Acting Premier James Merlino told reporters in Melbourne that starting from 11.59 pm local time on Thursday (9.59pm Singapore time), people will only be allowed to leave their homes for essential work, healthcare, grocery shopping, exercise or to take their coronavirus vaccinations.

"We have seen more evidence we're dealing with a highly infectious strain of the virus, a variant of concern, which is running faster than we have ever recorded," said Merlino.

Merlino said contact tracers have identified more than 10,000 primary and secondary contacts who would need to quarantine, test and self-isolate, adding "that number will continue to grow and change".

A fresh cluster of infections in Melbourne detected early this week has swelled to 26 cases after the state reported 12 new cases overnight, while the number of virus-exposed sites rose above 150.

READ: COVID-19: New Zealand halts travel bubble with Australian state of Victoria

READ: Australia urges over-50s to get jabbed as COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy grows

Officials have traced the latest cluster, the first in the state in more than three months, back to an overseas traveller infected with a variant first found in India, although the virus transmission path is still unclear.

The unnamed Victoria man tested negative after finishing his quarantine in neighbouring South Australia and flew to Melbourne this month but tested positive six days after he arrived.

Victoria endured one of the world's strictest and longest lockdowns last year after a second wave of COVID-19 killed more than 800 people in the state, amounting for 90 per cent of Australia's total deaths since the pandemic began.

Swift contact tracing, snap lockdowns and strict social distancing rules have helped Australia keep its COVID-19 numbers relatively low, with just over 30,000 cases and 910 deaths.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments

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2021-05-27 01:44:48Z
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Australia's Victoria state likely to enter COVID-19 lockdown: Media reports - CNA

SYDNEY: Australia's second-most populous state Victoria is likely to enter a snap COVID-19 lockdown from on Thursday (May 26) after senior ministers met Wednesday night to discuss steps to contain a fresh outbreak in Melbourne, local media reported.

The state government was set to confirm final details of the lockdown on Thursday morning before announcing the public health measures, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported, citing government sources.

A Victoria state health department spokesman said there would likely be an update on the coronavirus situation in Victoria later on Thursday morning.

The hard lockdown, during which people must stay home except for essential business, is expected to run for at least three days, the newspaper report said.

A fresh cluster of infections in Melbourne detected early this week has swelled to 15 cases and the number of virus-exposed locations crossed 70. Three hundred close contacts of the cases have been identified so far, with many having visited crowded hot spots that included sports stadiums and one of the largest shopping centres in the country.

Victoria authorities on Wednesday had warned the next 24 hours would be critical to limit the spread of cases and said further restrictions could be imposed to contain the fresh outbreak, the first in the state in more than three months.

Coronavirus curbs were reinstated on Tuesday for Melbourne's five million residents, limiting gathering sizes and making masks mandatory in restaurants, hotels and other indoor locations until Jun 4.

Swift contact tracing, snap lockdowns and strict social distancing rules have helped Australia keep its COVID-19 numbers relatively low, with just over 30,000 cases and 910 deaths.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

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2021-05-26 23:23:00Z
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Biden orders intelligence report on COVID-19 origins within 90 days - CNA

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Wednesday (May 26) ordered US intelligence agencies to report to him in the next three months on whether the COVID-19 virus first emerged in China from an animal source or from a laboratory accident.

Agencies should "redouble their efforts to collect and analyse information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion, and to report back to me in 90 days," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

According to Biden, agencies are currently split over the two possible sources for the virus that swept the planet over the past year, killing more than 3.4 million people - a figure experts say is undoubtedly an underestimate.

Biden's order signals an escalation in mounting controversy over how the virus first emerged - through animal contact at a market in Wuhan, China, or through release of the coronavirus from a highly secure research laboratory in the same city.

The answer has immense implications both for China, which says it is not responsible for the pandemic, and for the United States.

Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, called on China to be forthcoming and for "premature or politically-motivated conclusions" to be avoided.

"Beijing's continued obstruction of a transparent, comprehensive examination of the relevant facts and data about the source of the coronavirus can only delay the vital work necessary to help the world better prepare itself before the next potential pandemic," Schiff said.

"Nonetheless, I am confident that the (intelligence community) and other elements of our government will continue to pursue all possible leads and provide an updated, evidence-based finding in line with the President's 90-day requirement," he said.

READ: COVID-19 lab origin theory gains traction in United States

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) previously funded bat coronavirus research in Wuhan, but has denied supporting "gain of function" experiments that involve modifying a virus so that it becomes more transmissible to humans.

The grant was terminated last year by the administration of former president Donald Trump.

The lab theory has been used by opposition Republicans to attack top US scientists, including the NIH's Anthony Fauci, and Beijing, which strongly denies the claims.

Biden said that in March he asked for a report on the origins of the virus, including "whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident."

"As of today, the US intelligence community has 'coalesced around two likely scenarios' but has not reached a definitive conclusion on this question," he said.

White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Biden was informed by the intelligence community of their assessment about a month ago, but it was classified information until now.

Asked about the government's position on whether the virus was deliberately engineered to become a bioweapon, she said: "We haven't ruled out anything yet."

LAB THEORY GAINS TRACTION

The lab leak theory has angered China, with foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Wednesday hitting out and accusing Washington of "spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation."

Nevertheless, the idea is gaining increasing traction in the United States, where it was initially fueled by Trump and his aides and dismissed by many as a political talking point.

Citing a US intelligence report, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that a trio from the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalised with a seasonal illness in November 2019, a month before Beijing disclosed the existence of a mysterious pneumonia outbreak.

READ: Senate, House intelligence committees also probing COVID-19 origins: Officials

READ: US agencies examine reports of early COVID-19 infections in Wuhan lab

The natural origin hypothesis holds that the virus emerged in bats then passed to humans, likely via an intermediary species.

This theory was widely accepted at the start of the pandemic, but as time has worn on, scientists have not found a virus in either bats or another animal that matches the genetic signature of SARS-CoV-2.

This wasn't the case for SARS and MERS, earlier coronaviruses that crossed to humans and were traced back to civets and camels relatively quickly.

The United States and other countries have called for a more in-depth probe into the pandemic's origins, after a report by an international team sent by the World Health Organization to China earlier this year proved inconclusive.

And calls from independent scientists for more transparency are also growing.

"We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data," a group of researchers from top US universities wrote in a letter published by leading journal Science in mid-May.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments

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2021-05-26 21:00:00Z
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KL LRT collision: Prasarana chairman Tajuddin Abdul Rahman sacked in the wake of petition calling for his resignation - The Online Citizen Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — In the wake of a public petition calling for his resignation, Pasir Salak Member of Parliament Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was sacked from his position as non-executive chairman of state-owned transport firm Prasarana on Wednesday (26 May).

In a letter to Tajuddin on Wednesday that has since been widely circulated online and which was confirmed by the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said that the termination will take effect immediately.

Prasarana is under the purview of MOF.

Responding to queries from Malay Mail regarding his termination as Prasarana chairman, Tajuddin, however, said on Wednesday evening that he has yet to receive an official letter stating so.

“Want to terminate, terminate then. What is the issue? What is the matter? Want to terminate, terminate lah. Thank you lah. I can do other work,” he told Malay Mail in a telephone call.

News on Tajuddin’s termination came on the heels of a petition on Change.org titled #LetakJawatanTajuddin or #ResignTajuddin after his “failure and lack of sensitivity and empathy” in handling the aftermath of the recent Light Rail Transit (LRT) train collision, which resulted in 47 commuters suffering serious injuries.

“His arrogant behaviour was evident during a press conference following his visit to the scene of the collision. This is on top of his racist remark towards a Chinese journalist,” the petition statement read.

During the press conference, Tajuddin was seen asking a Phoenix TV correspondent: “Where are you from?” He then said, “No wonder lah” after the correspondent replied “China”.

Tajuddin: Where are you from?
Phoenix TV correspondent: China.
Tajuddin: China, no wonderlah.
That’s really embarrassing seeing how Prasarana’s chairman behaviour to the press. pic.twitter.com/qm2RfalcSJ
— Norman Goh (@imnormgoh) May 25, 2021

The petition statement also pointed out that Tajuddin had breach COVID-19 standard operating procedures by only wearing a face shield and not donning a face mask.

“The Royal Malaysia Police and the Health Ministry must take stern action against Tajuddin,” it added.

It is understood that police are currently investigating Tajuddin over the matter.

Tajuddin had earlier stated that Prasarana will be offering a RM1,000 compensation package to those affected — a sum that was criticised by many as an inadequate amount vis-à-vis the injuries and trauma sustained by victims of the accident.

Additionally, Tajuddin said that the company will “cover their medical expenses from the day they are admitted until they are discharged”.

Prasarana will also be footing the cost for those who had lost their income due to the accident.

Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong told reporters on Wednesday that a total of 67 people were treated at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

61 of them had been discharged, while six people remain hospitalised. Three are in critical condition, he noted.

Under regular service, trains on the Kelana Jaya line are fully automated. However, at the time of the crash, one of the two trains — which was empty — was under a manual test run.

Touching on the train driver involved in the incident, who has since been suspended from work following the collision, Wee said that police had conducted a drug test on 25 May, which turned out to be negative.

“This person must be allowed the opportunity to be heard in order to facilitate the investigation without premature judgments,” said the minister.

Earlier on Monday, Wee said that a task force will be convened to look into the incident, said Wee. A full report on the investigation will be presented in around two weeks.

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2021-05-26 16:49:30Z
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KL LRT train crash: Tajuddin terminated as Prasarana chairman 'with immediate effect', says MOF - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, the chairman of rail operator Prasanara, had his service terminated "with immediate effect", said Malaysia's Ministry of Finance on Wednesday (May 26).

This comes after his conduct during a press conference on Tuesday about the recent LRT train collision near KLCC station was criticised by members of the public.

The crash, which happened on Monday night, left more than 210 people injured. Two passengers who were injured in the collision have undergone brain surgery, with a third needing cerebral resuscitation treatment.

READ: KL LRT collision a result of driver negligence, train was driven in wrong direction: Wee Ka Siong

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Tajuddin appeared to joke about the collision in response to a question from a reporter on the situation in the tunnel.

"Normal ... only the two cars are together. They kissed each other," Tajuddin said laughing during the televised news conference.

The New Straits Times reported on Wednesday that the Malaysian Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) criticised Tajuddin's conduct during the press conference.

Its president Ajit Johl said Tajuddin's press conference after his visit to the collision site was "nothing short of rude and disgusting", reported the New Straits Times.

POLICE INVESTIGATING TAJUDDIN FOR NOT WEARING MASK

Tajuddin is also being investigated by the police for not wearing a face mask during the press conference on Tuesday.

Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Mohamad Zainal Abdullah said all parties involved in the case will be called to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters for questioning.

"We have contacted Tajuddin and he has agreed to give his statement; media personnel and other individuals who were at the scene too,” he told reporters.

READ: LRT passengers flung by impact of collision, say victims

The police chief said the authorities opened the investigation after videos of Tajuddin wearing a face shield but not a face mask at the press conference went viral on social media.

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2021-05-26 14:15:00Z
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