Category: Medical

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 5 — A local man who returned to the country on Dec 19 after performing umrah became the first case of COVID-19 Omicron variant to be detected in Sabah, said state Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

The Sabah COVID-19 spokesman said the man and his wife performed umrah from Dec 9 to 18 and returned to Malaysia on Dec 19 via Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

He said the patient and his wife arrived in Tawau on Dec 20 and were ordered to undergo quarantine at home but the ‘whole genome sequencing’ test result on Jan 4 showed the patient was positive for Omicron variant.

“While being confirmed positive for COVID-19 earlier, the husband placed in category 2 while the wife was in category 1. Both completed their quarantine on Jan 1 2022 and had recovered from the virus infection. (Note: the patient recovered from infection before the COVID-19 infection of the patient was confirmed an Omicron patient on Jan 4).

“The patient’s wife who was also undergoing quarantine at the same time as the husband, was found positive for COVID-19 on Dec 24 2021, while her whole genome sequencing test is still in progress,” he said in a statement here today.

He added that the couple had completed their COVID-19 vaccination in June last year and both are currently in good health.

Commenting on COVID-19 cases in Sabah, Masidi said the state recorded 280 cases today compared to 258 yesterday.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — The number of new COVID-19 cases increased today to 3,270, compared to 2,842 cases yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 2,773,156, as of 12 pm.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said of new cases detected, 69 were in categories three, four and five, while another 3,201 were in categories one and two.

“The number of cases requiring treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is 257, while the number of cases requiring respiratory assistance is 137,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said there were 3,195 recoveries recorded today, bringing the cumulative number of recoveries to 2,701,808.

He said four new clusters were also identified, with 195 clusters still active, while the infectivity rate (Rt) in the country as of yesterday was 0.99.

Apart from that, Dr Noor Hisham said the total number of COVID-19 positive cases among flood victims remained at 465 as informed yesterday, as no new cases had been reported as of 3 pm today

In the meantime, he said 58 cases of infectious diseases were detected among the flood victims comprising 32 cases of Acute Respiratory Tract Infections, skin diseases (20) and Acute Gastroenteritis (six).

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — Daily COVID-19 infections in the country fell to 2,690 cases, taking the cumulative total as of noon today to 2,767,044.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that of the new cases, 52 were in categories three, four and five while the rest were in categories one and two.

“A total of 265 cases required treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) while 147 cases needed respiratory assistance,” he said in a statement on COVID-19 today.

A total of 3,535 recoveries were also recorded, taking the cumulative total number of recovered cases to 2,695,751.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, three new clusters were reported today, bringing the total number of active clusters to 206.

He said detailed information on the COVID-19 situation in the country will be uploaded on the COVIDNOW website and the data would be updated at midnight every day.

Meanwhile, he said Malaysia recorded a 2.3 per cent increase in COVID-19 infections in the 52nd epidemiological week (ME) from Dec 26, 2021 to Jan 1, 2022 from 22,554 cases (51st ME) to 23,071 cases, after a decline in cases was recorded for five straight weeks since the 46th ME.

However, he said the average number of active cases recorded a 15 per cent drop, with an average of 40,963 cases in the 52nd ME, apart from an 18.2 per cent drop in fatalities and an 18 per cent decline in cases requiring treatment in the ICU.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that the Ministry of Health had stressed to umrah pilgrims allowed to undergo home quarantine not to receive visits from family members, friends and neighbours.

“This is to prevent their visitors and, subsequently, the community from being infected,” he said.

On Jan 1, the government decided to temporarily suspend travel permission to perform umrah starting Jan 8 so as to curb the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

It was also decided that pilgrims returning home from today will undergo mandatory quarantine at quarantine stations or hotels specified by the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA).

On the COVID-19 infection among flood victims, Dr Noor Hisham said one new case was reported, taking the total number of cases involving flood victims to 461 as of 3 pm today.

He said the 39 cases of infectious diseases detected among flood victims today involved 33 cases of acute respiratory tract infections (ARI), skin diseases (four) and acute gastroenteritis (AGE) (two).

He also said that 194 temporary evacuation centres (PPS) were still operating, involving 70 in Johor, Pahang (54), Melaka (23), Sabah (23), Negeri Sembilan (22) and Selangor (two), with the total number of flood victims now at 13,577.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUCHING, Jan 3 — New COVID-19 cases in Sarawak have continued their downward trend with just 12 cases reported today.

In a statement, the Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee said, however, another death due to the disease was recorded today, involving a 78-year-old man.

Daily cases have dropped to double digits since Dec 4, and of the new infections reported today, none required ventilators, one needed supplemental oxygen, two cases involved lung infection and nine cases had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic.

Bintulu recorded four new cases, followed by Lawas and Kapit with two cases each, and Miri, Kuching, Samarahan and Bau with one case each. No new cases were reported in the 34 other districts in the state.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 3 — A new COVID-19 cluster was detected in Sabah today, originating from a hotel worker in Kundasang, Ranau, said state Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

He said the cluster is known as the Jalan Kem Bina Ranau Cluster.

“The index case is a 59-year-old male worker of the hotel who was found positive through symptomatic screening at Hospital Ranau on Dec 23, 2021.

“Screenings done on 70 close contacts, his colleagues and family members turned up another 39 positive COVID-19 cases, including six which were reported today, bringing the cumulative figure to 40 cases,” he said in a statement tonight.

“Compared to yesterday, there was a slight drop of four cases with 161 new cases reported in Sabah today,” said Masidi, the state government spokesman on COVID-19.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — Twenty counters and forty personnel have been assigned at C25 Satellite building of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to assist in the process of installing digital detection devices on individuals who returned from performing umrah.

Health director-general, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the time taken for health screening and wearing of the device ‘edgenta’ would take one hour and 20 minutes.

“At the latest, those who returned from umrah have started wearing the tracker device,” he said in a post on his Facebook page today.

He said currently the digital detection device is for travellers coming back from 18 high-risk countries under house quarantine.

On Saturday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced all individuals who are undergoing the compulsory seven-day quarantine, are required to wear the digital tracking device from this week.

Khairy said implementation of the device was made following the detection of 30 out of 49 new COVID-19 infections involving the Omicron variant in Malaysia were import cases from Saudi Arabia detected on Dec 23 and 24.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 30 — Part II (Inability to Perform Contractual Obligations) of the Temporary Measures to Reduce the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Act (COVID-19) [Act 829], which will end on Dec 31, has been extended from Jan 1 to Oct 22 next year.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said this is pursuant to subsection 5 (2) of Act 829, where a minister may by order published in the Gazette, extend the effective period of Part II but the extension shall not exceed the effective period of Act 829.

Wan Junaidi in a statement today said the extension was approved by the Cabinet on Dec 22.

“This (extension) is to ensure the effective and progressive coordination of the implementation of Act 829 pursuant to the amendments made recently,” he said.

The amendments to the Temporary Measures to Reduce the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Act (COVID-19) [Act 829] were tabled by the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin and were passed by the House of Representatives on Dec 16 and in the Senate on Dec 22 unanimously.

Wan Junaidi said the amendments of Act 829 were the government’s commitment to mitigate the legal impact due to the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) enforced to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“This act provides temporary relief to parties from performing their contractual obligations for a specified period,” he said.

He said amendment to subsection 9(1) of Part II – Inability to Perform Contractual Obligations will assist mediation service initiatives under Pusat Mediasi COVID-19 (PMC-19), a government agency set up in Nov 2020.

Through the amendment, all types of commercial contracts affected by the implementation of MCO can be referred to PMC-19 as compared to the previous nine categories of the contract stipulated in the Schedule in Section 7.

PMC-19 is in partnership with the Malaysian Bar, Advocates Association of Sarawak and Sabah Law Society to conduct mediation services for individuals and businesses whose contracts are affected by the implementation of the MCO.

The Malaysian Bar and government launched a Mediate First Campaign on Nov 18 (2021) where lawyers pledged to assist clients who were looking for swift solutions to contractual disputes following the implementation of the MCO.

About 50 law firms have stepped up to provide the Mediate First Pledge and the list can be found on the PMC-19 website.

The Temporary Measures to Reduce the Impact of Coronavirus Disease Act 2019 (COVID-19) 2020 was gazetted on Oct 23, 2020 and to be effective for a period of two years from the date of publication in the Government Gazette.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency