Year: 2021

— The Sarawak government has allocated RM35.5 million to supply food assistance to the B40 group under the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) 6.0 package during the current Movement Control Order (MCO) implemented until June 14.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said 472,923 household heads throughout the state were eligible to receive the assistance and 49,811 had received it so far.

“Hopefully, the people of Sarawak who have not yet received food aid can remain patient as the distribution may take some time with strict compliance to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) during this MCO period,” he said during a press conference after symbolically handing over the food assistance at the Darul Ehsan Mosque in Kampung Haji Baki here today.

Abang Johari said to ensure that the food aid could be distributed by June 11, various modes of transport including by air, land and water would be used, especially in areas that were difficult to access.

He said the Sarawak Government would work with the Fire and Rescue Department, Army and various other relevant government agencies to expedite the delivery process and called on all citizens to continue to comply with the SOP to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— The field hospital that is being set up by the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) in the compound of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) here, is expected to begin operations on June 17.

Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman R Vidyananthan said the MAF has agreed to provide additional facilities for the treatment of COVID-19 patients at the HSA.

He said the field hospital was also needed because there was a 30 per cent increase in the number of COVID-19 patients at government hospitals in the district since the start of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

“It (the field hospital) will be equipped with four intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 60 hospital beds in stages.

“The length of operation of the field hospital will depend on the COVID-19 situation in the state, especially in Johor Bahru and the nearby districts,” he said in a statement here today.

Vidyananthan MAF has also agreed to deploy three officers and 30 paramedics to assist the HSA medical staff at the field hosital and ensure the smooth running of its operations.

He said as of June 6, a total of 1,247 COVID-19 patients were being treated in the at government hospitals in the state.

Of that total, he said 105 patients require treatment in the ICU, where 82 need ventilator support.

“There are 24 COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at several private hospitals here, with two cases requiring ventilators,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

The Padang Terap COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) is seeking adequate vaccine supply from the federal government in order to speed up the vaccination process in the district.

Its director Datuk Md Shuhaime Abd Rahman said currently, the district was facing a shortage of vaccine supply which might hamper efforts to achieve herd immunity.

“If we get adequate vaccine supply, we can complete the vaccination for 49,000 eligible residents in Padang Terap by September and subsequently, return to the green zone status,” he told reporters when met today.

He said due to the vaccine supply issue, all three vaccination centres (PPV) in the district were unable to be fully utilised, let alone offer other vaccination methods such as walk-in and drive-through.

Commenting further, he said the PPV in Kuala Nerang should be able to inoculate 1,000 recipients per day, Naka PPV (600 recipients), Lubuk Merbau PPV (400 to 500 recipients) and the mobile vaccination unit (100 recipients).

“However, due to the shortage of vaccine supply, the vaccination process at the PPVs ended as early as 2.30 pm whereas they can operate until 5 pm and our mobile unit completed their task at noon.

“Therefore, if we have sufficient vaccine supply, we can optimise our resources and continue the process until evening,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) has offered to provide logistical assistance to the Ministry of Health (MOH) to transport COVID-19 vaccines to interior areas nationwide, especially in Sabah and Sarawak.

Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said MAF had the kind of vehicles needed for the poor road conditions in the interiors.

“If possible, we do not want to bring the communities from the interior areas out into the city, instead we will go to their villages. In some places in the interiors, there may not be any access to get to their areas. So we’ll bring nurses, doctors and such to them so that they can be vaccinated.

“If there is no access at all, we will use helicopters, set up tents at their villages and administer the shots,” he told reporters after visiting the Army drive-through vaccination centre (PPV) at the Sungai Besi Perdana Camp, here, today.

Also present were Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba and Chief of Defence Force Gen Tan Sri Affendi Buang.

Meanwhile, Dr Adham said the government was committed to expanding the services of existing PPVs to include the drive-through method as it was cheaper, more orderly and convenient.

He said the country was now in the second phase of the vaccination programme, with a vaccine stock of seven million doses in June and 14 million (doses) in July.

“For the second phase, we are diversifying the PPVs, not only at health clinics, hospitals, halls or business centres. We want to further expand vaccination via the drive-through method like the one conducted by MAF yesterday and today,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang who is currently being treated at the National Heart Institute (IJN) is in stable condition.

This was confirmed by his press secretary Abdul Malik Ab Razak, when contacted by Bernama today.

Abdul Malik also denied rumours on Abdul Hadi’s health condition saying that the Prime Minister’s special envoy to Middle East is unwell and medically unfit to manage the party’s affairs.

“It (rumours on Abdul Hadi’s health) is not true. Tuan Guru (Abdul Hadi) is in stable condition. Any information regarding Tuan Guru’s health can be referred to the official statement on his official Facebook page,” he said.

Last Sunday, Batu Buruk assemblyman Muhammad Khalil, who is also Abdul Hadi’s son, said his father had been admitted to IJN for the past few days, after complaining of being unwell.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

A total of 1,135,157 individuals have completed the two-dose COVID-19 vaccination as of Monday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said.

Dr Adham, in his tweet, said 2,503,655 individuals had received the first dose, bringing the number of doses administered to 3,638,812.

He said Selangor has the highest number of two-dose vaccinations with 145,973 doses, followed by Sarawak (119,459), Perak (105,546), Kuala Lumpur (104,742) and Johor (98,996).

As of yesterday, 52.5 per cent or 12,743,918 individuals have signed up to receive the vaccine under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, with Selangor recording the highest number of registration at 3,363,091 people.

The first phase of the immunisation programme, from February to April, involved about 500,000 frontliners, mainly healthcare workers.

The second phase, from April to August this year will cover 9.4 million senior citizens, vulnerable groups with morbidity problems and persons with disabilities.

The third phase, scheduled for May to February 2022, will involve those aged 18 and above, both citizens and non-citizens, totalling some 13.7 million.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— The Muslim world must play a more proactive role to ensure the “Worldview of Islam” or Islam’s vision of existence continues to be properly studied to ensure God’s pleasure remains to be a bigger concern in the march towards the future, said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said it is for this reason the government had adopted the Manhaj Rabbani – the Divine Path or Approach – which is now an overarching government policy framework for Islamic affairs in Malaysia to give more authenticity and substance to the development of the country in the 21st century.

“Our Muslim scholars and universities are crucial in realising the agenda of Manhaj Rabbani in Malaysia, where we hope a more ethical and spirituality fulfilling atmosphere can emerge in our country.

“This demands our universities to take into account the need to nurture men and women of adab or good human beings,” he said while officiating the International Conference on Contemporary Islamic Studies 2021 (ICIS2021) held virtually today.

The conference was organised by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).

Muhyiddin furthermore said that universities in Malaysia must produce scholars and professionals who not only can extend the dominant Western achievements but also be brave to criticise the shortcomings in existing sciences, ideologies and technologies, and create original contributions in various fields.

The Prime Minister said he believed that platforms such as ICIS2021, more Muslim scholars and researchers would be able to lead the discourse and guide on how we best respond to the multifaceted disruptions the world is facing.

“Indeed, this dynamism makes for an attractive value proposition that can help motivate targeted stakeholders which includes the students in your midst.

“When wisely applied beyond their communities, Islamic thought and studies can positively strengthen a harmonious and peaceful ecosystem, regardless of ethnic and religious orientations,” he said.

Muhyiddin said aside from examining the new advancements, which Islamic studies can adopt in taught based studies, e-learning and e-fatwa, thoughtful research that examines the ongoing momentum and challenges of Industrial Revolution 4.0 through the lens of the Worldview of Islam or Islam’s vision of existence was equally important to be carried out.

“Indeed, what we derive from serious research in Islamic thought and studies can help to enlighten minds and address a variety of topics that are most relevant during current times, including post-COVID recovery for a more just and sustainable world,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency