We wish to state firstly, that the cost for Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerese Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests are inherently high not due to profit margins but instead because of the various resources required to run them.

A single RT-PCR test requires not only the test kit but also PPE for the doctors and their team, sanitisation and proper clinical waste disposal as well as high-level laboratory costs.

In addition, there is significant time and resources needed in terms of reporting of all tests done, notification of positive cases via E-notification, emails, fax or call within 24 hours in compliance with the Health Ministry’s SOPs and guidelines.

The communication challenges between the private sector and the public sector often demand many man-hours when handling multiple cases.

This does not include the real risk of acquiring Covid-19 infection by the healthcare staff performing the sampling and its untold costs to their physical or mental health and the viability of their practices.

When a private doctor is infected in the course of his or her duties and is either hospitalised or quarantined, he or she may suffer financial difficulties as income immediately drops to none but running cost of their practice are ever-present. There are no grants or donations from any third parties or public, unlike governmental facilities.

Despite these concerns, it is the duty of all private clinics and hospitals to do their utmost best in fighting the pandemic and certainly, the detection of many cases by the private sector leads to greater national efforts of containing Covid-19 spread and its associated clusters.

Unfortunately, by simply lowering the costs without taking all real and hidden costs into consideration may lead to the unsustainability of many private facilities.

As a tool for mass screening, RT-PCR tests have the disadvantage of high costs and the longer time required to run them. Consequently, contact tracing will be prolonged which may defeat the purpose of mass screening and isolation. Typically in an area with high Covid-19 infection prevalence, RT PCR may take three to five days for the turnaround time.

A much more suitable course of action is to employ the Rapid Antigen Test Kit (RTK-Ag). It is not only more suitable because it is fast and accurate but also because the RTK-Ag kits also indicate an individual’s infectivity which will aid in combatting the spread of Covid-19. Private hospitals and clinics are at the forefront of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic since its start in early 2020.

All private hospitals and clinics act as a triage for Covid-19 patients when they turned up at these facilities, sharing the burden of disseminating public information to patients, Covid-19 screening, shouldering the non-Covid-19 patient load, contributing to fundraising efforts, coordinating with the Ministry of Health and many other acts which go beyond their normal duties.

The Malaysian Medical Council code of ethics explicitly states that every doctor is required to treat patients regardless of race, creed or religion and it goes without saying that is the standard expected of every single registered doctor in this country. 

The MMA will never condone any less and hopes that all in society will try to attain a deeper understanding of the issues involved with the trust that all parties are working towards the common goal of making our country Covid-19 free.

Source : From Malaysiakini

The Perikatan Nasional federal government has dismayed Malaysians by failing to announce any concrete and substantial financial package to rescue the economy following the extension of the movement control order (MCO) from Feb 4 to 18. 

While Chinese New Year celebrations will be muted and severely affected, what is of greater significance is the absence of an all-out commitment to save jobs and businesses.

Ministers responsible for health, tourism, welfare, human resources and economy must resign for failing to save jobs and businesses, especially the beleaguered tourism industry, and gross incompetency in managing the Covid-19 public health crisis.

As at Feb 2, Malaysia recorded 222,628 cases, of which 47,847 are active with 791 deaths. The PN government has succeeded in turning Malaysia into the worst Covid-19 Asean nation in per capita terms.

This spike in Covid-19 infection is a damning indictment of the unelected PN government’s failure to manage, control and check this global pandemic. PN’s refusal to fully implement the 3Ts (testing, tracing and treatment) is unforgivable, including all close contacts of Covid-19 positive patients.

Instead of bearing full responsibility for their failure, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has taken full advantage to secure his political survival following the loss of his parliamentary majority, by suspending Parliament.

Is suspending Parliament the opportunity for Muhyiddin to break his promises, until the health crisis is over, of an automatic extension of bank loan moratorium(except the Top 20), increasing monthly welfare payments to RM1,000 including the unemployed, EPF self-withdrawals, rental relief or subsidies for shopping complexes and direct financial aid to B40s, workers and business establishments?

PN is still comatose and doing nothing to overcome the dire straits of our tourism industry, which lost a shocking RM100 billion in revenue last year. Penang’s Red Rock Hotel manager Jeffrey Lim has been holding a placard and shouting “tiga ringgit, tiga ringgit”, desperately selling his hotel’s nasi lemak by the roadside.

Bernama reported Lim as saying, “We have to depend on the hotel to survive… there is nothing much from the government for the hotel industry.” Is the government not ashamed?

This is not the only evidence of the PN government and the ministers’ indifference and incompetency. Malaysia lost foreign direct investment (FDI) at a worse rate than Asean and globally in 2020, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). Malaysia’s actual FDI last year was down 68 percent, compared to the average contraction of the Asean region of 31 percent and the global average contraction of 42 percent.

At a time when many Malaysians are losing their jobs and businesses through no fault of their own, ministers who failed to do their jobs should be replaced. Just as ordinary Malaysians who are charged in court with breaching the standing operating procedures (SOPs) for MCO, there should be no double standards for ministers and deputy ministers who should not be exempted from being charged in court.

LIM GUAN ENG is Bagan MP, former finance minister, and former Penang chief minister.

Source : From Malaysiakini

First and foremost, let me extend my greeting: Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Chai, and may this year of the Metal Ox be a prosperous and better one for all!

Now to the more important business: how are we going to celebrate Chinese New Year this year?

Well, it is definitely going to be different and we must accept that! This is for both those who celebrate and those who are looking forward to the long weekend.

Firstly, with the movement control order (MCO) still in place, we must understand that movement between districts and states will be tough. But please remember it is all for a good reason. Remember that as younger people, we are at risk of contracting Covid-19 as asymptomatic carriers.

Visiting our elderly family members during this festive season will only bring the virus to their homes and all it takes is a moment of letting our guard down (taking off your mask, not washing your hands and not practising physical distancing), the virus will pounce.

Unfortunately, this virus pounces on the elderly and hits them hard. We must not allow that. So remember this year – staying away means you care for the elderly relatives by not wanting to infect them. You have to avoid movement, especially inter-districts and inter-states. 

For those living in the same house or within a few doors away, please remember that when you visit, you must wear a mask and it must be also kept on in the house. Yes, you read that right. Remember that keeping a mask on with physical distancing and hand hygiene keeps the virus away.

Also be reminded that having a more than 15-minute conversation (or even very short close conversations) in a confined and congested space, spells trouble.

For those at home, please be vigilant at all times. Chinese New Year is a great time where families sit and eat together. Using the same utensils that we use to eat to scoop food/second helpings must be avoided at all costs.

Do ensure that utensils are made available for each dish so that hygiene can be practised. Also, please do the same for those delicious cookies. Remember that when you use these utensils you must avoid contact with your plate and/or your eating utensils. And, please, do not share food from the same plate.

I know that cure little nephew or niece would like a sip of that tasty beverage, but remember, your kindness in sharing the same drink is actually an opportunity to share the deadly virus with others.

For all homes, please do have ample stock of hand wash or soap ready. Visitors must scrub their hands thoroughly and keep their masks on when they enter a home. Those who are residents at home need not wear masks unless someone is unwell or have symptoms.

It would also be good to have a few extra boxes of face masks that you might want to keep in case someone needs a change of mask and doesn’t have an extra one. If possible, create a QR scan for your homes so that if an unforeseen situation happens, contact tracing becomes easier (SELangkah offers that feature for free if needed).

This Chinese New Year be as strong as the Metal Ox in combating Covid-19.

Source : From Malaysiakini

‘Didn’t the US return billions to us? That’s our hard-earned money…’

As Covid-19 surges, Ismail Sabri says poor won’t survive total lockdown

Brahminy Kite: Firstly, the government will not implement a total lockdown as this would sound the death knell for the poor and small businesses? But it looks like the government can allocate tens of millions to build community halls?

Didn’t the United States return billions to us just a few months back? But the government still cannot use that money to help the poor? That’s our hard-earned money – to be used for our welfare!

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, didn’t you tell the Agong you need this emergency to control the pandemic? A strict lockdown for a month and a half will definitely do less harm to the economy than months and months of half-baked lackadaisical movement control order (MCO) or conditional MCO (CMCO).

Look at how Australia tackled their problem today – a lockdown on two million people with the discovery of only one case. We are not asking for the lockdown of the whole country, just the problematic areas.

Senior Minister (Security) Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the focus of containment would be on construction sites, where large numbers of cases have been recorded. However, outbreaks in those areas are easier to contain. It is the transmission within the local community which is happening now that is difficult to solve without a strict MCO.

The pandemic has already reached the state of community transmission. It is not a surprise if the transmission has crept into non-Covid departments of major government hospitals, infecting healthcare staff including doctors, disrupting services to the public because the staff have to undergo quarantine.

Please check how many patients who are seeking treatment at non-Covid departments are positive. I suggest you work for a few weeks at the nephrology ward or the acute haemodialysis unit of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital to understand the gravity of the problem.

Ismail shared how small businesses were affected after the government barred dining-in. This doesn’t make sense. A restaurant will still get the same profit whether a family dines in or they order takeaway or online for food to be delivered. The price of the dishes remains the same, whether it is dine-in, takeaway, or online delivery.

In fact, restaurants may gain more if customers take away or order online because they will need less staff. Dining-in increases the chances of staff being infected. When this happens, the restaurants lose by having to pay employees while they are in quarantine. Restaurants might even have to shut down for sanitising.

Ismail added that there are no clusters involving markets and roadside stalls. “We act according to facts.” He’s really talking rubbish. Of course, at the point of decision-making, there is no cluster because they haven’t gathered yet. It takes time to form a cluster. How do you know that none of the traders or customers is infected? Clusters only start when traders and customers start to gather. Wouldn’t the exchange of notes and touching of items contribute to transmission?

You can set up a screening desk at the entrance of the pasar malam equipped with thermometer, sanitiser, a record book, and armed personnel to control the crowd but that cannot prevent transmission by people who do not show symptoms. Another thing, if there has not been any history of clusters among roadside stalls, it doesn’t mean that in the future there won’t be any.

I bet my comments would invite a lot of criticism. But please give it some deeper thought. If it is a money problem, the government still has lots of it. That money is our money to be used on us, especially when we are in trouble.

Don’t let our loved ones die just because of money.

WhiteCrab8706: @Brahminy Kite, your comment about restaurants is definitely off the mark. I own a number of restaurants, and revenue is down 90 percent since MCO 2.0.

Dine-in and takeaway are completely different. Delivery helps a bit, but paying 30 to 35 percent fees to Grab, etc, doesn’t make that part of revenue a major factor in surviving.

New Hope: Ismail, you would make the people very happy by getting the police to either arrest or summon all ministers who have broken the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

As far as we are concerned, there should be no excuses. While you are trying your best to do your job, all the other ministers in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government have come up with fanciful ideas on how to breach the SOPs.

The police can fine a business owner who was just getting out of her car in front of her shop without wearing a mask? On what basis do the police catch ordinary citizens when our so-called “leaders” are getting away scot-free?

Siva1967: One thing is certain, no one can pinpoint where the cases are coming from and why it is spiralling at this unmanageable rate. The stringent implementation of MCO 1.0 did work out somewhat until we let our guard down due to the Sabah state election – no thanks to the Sabah frogs.

However, the same stringent enforcement is not seen being carried out for MCO 2.0. Here’s a suggestion:

1. Call for a strict lockdown for one month – a total shutdown of the economy

2. Provide a moratorium for six months across the board to counter the impact of lost wages and lost business

3. Give financial aid for people’s needs, especially the B40 (bottom 40 percent), by which time, the number in this category would have ballooned

4. Cut all wages and allowances of MPs and state assemblypersons for six months, not that they would starve anyway

5. Cut wages of all C-suite executives in all government-linked companies (GLCs) including the political appointees for six months

6. Ensure food supply is amply available and proper enforcement to ensure no hoarding

We take the hit altogether one time, instead of dragging it out and giving band-aid solutions here and there, prolonging the problem. While the six-month moratorium is in place, efforts to restart the economy must be put in place and rolled out at the end of the sixth month.

What is the economy? In simple terms, it is to ensure every able citizen of this country either has a job to make a living, or a business to earn their keep. With that and a sincere policy in place, we can come out of this victorious.

A generation or two ago, our parents and grandparents lived through the Japanese occupation. This pandemic, however, is a war against an invisible enemy.

ManOnTheStreet: @Siva1967, there is no way a one-month total lockdown, no matter how strict, will bring down the numbers to post-MCO 1.0 levels. Not with the virus in the community as it is now.

There is no such thing as health/lives over economy/livelihood. Only the uninformed repeat this mantra again and again. Both are inextricably linked. We have to find the balance. Prolonged lockdowns will not give us that balance.

GMan: Ismail said they will focus on factories and construction sites as they are the biggest contributors to Covid-19 cases. If that is the case, it doesn’t make sense that we have an emergency declared across the whole country.

This means Parliament is suspended, businesses are suffering, schools are closed for four months (only kindergartens and day-cares can operate), when the biggest contributors are factories and construction sites?

Then why can’t the emergency be limited to just factories and construction sites? Why drag everyone down, affecting the lives of all Malaysians?

Ghostwhowalks: @GMan, the government is just acting like a big bully and blaming it all on the foreigners. They are taking an easy way out and missing the target by a mile!

If it is that simple, the pandemic would have been solved much earlier.

Source : From Malaysiakini

The Health Ministry today reported 3,455 new Covid-19 cases amid a record number of patients (327) requiring intensive care.

There was a record number of deaths (21) as well.

• Active cases: 47,847
  
• Patients in ICU: 327 (new record)
  
• Intubated: 145 (new record)
  
• RT-PCR tests*: N/A (Jan 21 – 48,728 tests processed, 76,255 capacity)
  
• Number of samples taken**: 19,697

In Selangor, although the number of new cases remained in the four-digits for the sixth day, the number of cases detected among those who reported symptoms and not linked to clusters or close contacts appears to be on a slight downward trend (see chart below).

Those with symptoms are more likely to spread Covid-19 compared to those who are asymptomatic.

Half the new cases in Selangor were from close contacts while a quarter was from two new clusters – Jalan Ragum and Bukit Rahman.

In Kuala Lumpur, half of the new cases came from a single construction site cluster – Tapak Bina Jalan Cheras.  

New cases by states, in brief: 

Selangor (1,145)
Existing clusters: 46
New cluster(s): 252 (Jalan Ragum dan Bukit Rahman)
Close contacts: 565
Imported: 1
Other screenings: 281

Johor (708)
Existing clusters: 280
New cluster(s): 24 (Parit Jamil Darat)
Close contacts: 264
Imported: 1
Other screenings: 139

Kuala Lumpur (619)
Existing clusters: 74
New cluster(s): 332 (Tapak Bina Jalan Cheras)
Close contacts: 108
Imported: 3
Other screenings: 102

Sabah (276)
Existing clusters: 50
Close contacts: 172
Other screenings: 54

Sarawak (121)
Existing clusters: 36
Close contacts: 44
Other screenings: 41

Terengganu (115)
Existing clusters: 14
Close contacts: 20
Other screenings: 81

Penang (85)
Existing clusters: 14
Close contacts: 13
Other screenings: 58

Perak (84)
Existing clusters: 30
New cluster: 4 (Semarak Bersia)
Close contacts: 26
Other screenings: 24

Negeri Sembilan (79)
Existing clusters: 2
Close contacts: 28
Other screenings: 49

Pahang (63)
Existing clusters: 25
New cluster: 1 (Taman Muhibbah)
Close contacts: 26
Other screenings: 11

Malacca (62)
Existing clusters: 40
New clusters: 4 (Industri Serkam)
Close contacts: 11
Other screenings: 7

Kedah (59)
Existing clusters: 23
Close contacts: 20
Other screenings: 16

Kelantan (31)
Close contacts: 22
Other screenings: 9

Putrajaya (6)
Existing clusters: 1
Close contacts: 2
Other screenings: 3

Labuan (1)
Existing cluster: 1

Perlis (1)
Close contacts: 1

Deaths

The Klang Valley region accounted for 14 deaths. The youngest victim was 36 and the average age of all victims was 65. Details of the victims are on Malaysiakini Covid-19 tracker page. 

This region accounts for 27.7 percent of Covid-19 deaths and the figure is climbing (see chart below).

It should be noted that the reported deaths may not have necessarily occurred over the 24-hour period ending noon today. https://e.infogram.com/c8a28e8e-d511-48c1-bc1b-3eec0f7c699a?parent_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.malaysiakini.com%2Fnews%2F561402&src=embed#async_embed

Clusters

The Health Ministry classified seven new clusters which mostly involved factories and construction sites. 

There was one cluster involving a government office in Kuantan – Taman Muhibbah – and another involving a community – Semarak Bersia.

The Semarak Bersia cluster may not necessarily be linked to the government’s decision to put the nearby Felda Bersia under an enhanced movement control order (MCO).

Details of new clusters in brief:

Jalan Ragum cluster
District(s): Klang and Petaling, Selangor
Locality/Source: Factory in Jalan Ragum, Shah Alam
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Jan 16, targeted screening
Total infected: 219 out of 542 screened

Bukit Rahman cluster
District(s): Kuala Selangor, Petaling and Gombak, Selangor
Locality/Source: Factory in Taman Perindustrian Bukit Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh.
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Jan 31, targeted screening
Total infected: 48 out of 2,800 screened

Parit Jamil Darat cluster
District(s): Muar, Johor
Locality/Source: Factory in Parit Jawa
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 1, targeted screening
Total infected: 26 out of 189 screened

Tapak Bina Jalan Cheras cluster
District(s): Cheras, Kuala Lumpur
Locality/Source: Construction site
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Feb 2, targeted screening
Total infected: 332 out of 823 screened

Taman Muhibbah cluster
District(s): Temerloh and Kuantan, Pahang
Locality/Source: Government office, Kuantan
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Jan 27, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 14 out of 47 screened

Industri Serkam cluster
District(s): Jasin and Melaka Tengah, Malacca
Locality/Source: Factory in Serkam
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: Jan 25, targeted screening
Total infected: 14 out of 47 screened

Semarak Bersia cluster
District(s): Hulu Perak, Perak
Locality/Source: Taman Semarak and Bersia, Gerik
Cluster category: Community
First case: Jan 21, close contact
Total infected: 19 out of 58 screened

Source : From Malaysiakini

CANBERRA: Fears of a new cluster of COVID-19 cases in Australia eased on Tuesday (Feb 2), as the city of Perth maintained a strict lockdown and no new cases were detected across the country for a second day, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.

Australia ended two weeks without any local cases of the coronavirus on Sunday when a security guard working in hotel quarantine in the Western Australian state capital tested positive for COVID-19.

The city of more than 2 million was ordered into a five-day lockdown after the guard at a hotel used to house people returning from overseas was found to have the UK strain of the virus.

READ: Australia reopens New Zealand ‘travel bubble’ after no new COVID-19 cases

The unnamed man most likely contracted COVID-19 from a person who recently returned to the country, Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan said on Tuesday.

“One of those recent arrivals was accommodated on the same floor as the security guard was working. We are advised that the guard did deliver medication to the door of this quarantine guest,” McGowan told reporters in Canberra.

McGowan said 101 close contacts of the security guard had so far tested negative for COVID-19. Another 50 people deemed close contacts were awaiting test results.

The vast, largely isolated state has been known in Australia for a hardline COVID-19 response that included keeping its border closed to the rest of the country until recently when it reopened to some regions.

Australia has managed to largely contain its novel epidemic – limiting cases to fewer than 29,000 and deaths to 909 – with the sort of decisive action seen in Perth, and tight border controls.

Source : From Malaysiakini

The movement control order (MCO), which is set to expire on Feb 4, will be extended for another two weeks with the implementation of stricter measures, announced Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.

The next phase of the MCO will end on Feb 18. It will not affect most parts of Sarawak aside from several districts where MCO and enhanced MCO are imposed. 

Details of stricter measures will be released in due time, said Ismail Sabri, who gave an example of imposing limits on the number of people entering supermarkets. 

“For instance, people can enter supermarkets freely… This causes big crowds in supermarkets. We will go back to the old way. We will limit the number of patrons,” he added. 

On the rules for the Lunar New Year celebrations on Feb 12, Ismail Sabri said it was still being drafted, noting that the event will take place during the MCO period.

He said the attorney-general was drafting new laws which would increase the fines for MCO violations. However, he added that a decision on whether to adopt the new laws have yet to be made. 

He stressed that the current phase of the MCO was different from the one imposed last year because small businesses will be allowed to continue operating. 

“Although there is some loosening of restrictions, I hope the people will continue to abide by the rules. Take care of yourself and your family,” Ismail said. 

Last month, the government placed the entire nation – sans Sarawak – under MCO restrictions following the sharp increase in Covid-19 cases which led to Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah warning that the public healthcare system was at the brink of collapse.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong also assented to the government’s bid to declare a state of emergency to battle the virus.

However, cases have continued to rise under the second MCO, which is more relaxed compared to the total economic lockdown imposed last year as the government struggles to strike a balance between saving lives and livelihoods.

After cases breached the 5,000 mark for several days, Malaysia recorded 4,214 new cases yesterday, bringing the total number of active cases to 49,074.

The death toll from Covid-19 stands at 770.

Source : From Malaysiakini

PARIS: Humanity’s unbridled growth in recent decades has come at a “devastating cost to nature” according a wide-ranging international review on the vital economic role played by our living planet.

The 600-page rundown of scientific material commissioned by the British government highlighted the precarious state of global biodiversity and warned that nothing short of a sea change in how countries power economic growth could prevent catastrophic impacts for nature, and humanity.

The Dasgupta Review – a two-year collaboration of hundreds of academics from around the world overseen by Partha Dasgupta, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Cambridge – said that all livelihoods depended on the health of the planet.

It showed that while global capital produced per person had doubled in the three decades since 1992, the stock of natural capital – that is, the quantifiable benefit an individual derives from services bestowed by nature – had plunged 40 per cent.

READ: Forests are needed to absorb carbon, but the overheating planet might soon flip a critical switch

“While humanity has prospered immensely in recent decades, the ways in which we have achieved such prosperity means that it has come at a devastating cost to nature,” the review said.

It called for a fundamental redressing of humanity’s demands and nature’s supply, warning that biodiversity is intricately linked with human wellbeing and health.

Some species are going extinct up to 1,000 times faster than the historical average, “undermining nature’s productivity, resilience and adaptability”, the review said.

“TOTALLY DEPENDENT”

It warned that catastrophes related to nature loss – including the COVID-19 pandemic which was driven by land-use changes and species exploitation – could prove to be “the tip of the iceberg” if development continued at its current rate.

READ: Earth is losing ice faster today than in the mid-1990s, study suggests

“We are totally dependent upon the natural world,” renowned naturalist David Attenborough wrote in a foreword to the review.

“It supplies us with every oxygen-laden breath we take and every mouthful of food we eat.

“But we are currently damaging it so profoundly that many of its natural systems are now on the verge of breakdown.”

The economic benefits of biodiversity had historically been missed from growth models, distorting the value of capital accumulation and leaving crucial conservation programmes chronically underfunded, said the review.

With an estimated US$4 trillion to US$6 trillion in funding each year going to unsustainable economic activities such as fossil fuel use and damaging farming techniques, governments “exacerbate the problem by paying people more to exploit nature than to protect it”, it added.

It called for a new way of defining economic wellbeing, one that takes nature’s services into account, to replace the traditional GDP model.

But it warned that choosing a more sustainable growth trajectory would require “transformative change, underpinned by levels of ambition, coordination and political will akin to, or even grater than, those of the Marshall Plan”.

RETHINKING ECONOMICS

Such a sustainable future would include a total decarbonisation of the global energy system, the review concluded.

More than that, properly managing Earth’s precious resources would involve people in richer nations changing consumption and wasteful habits, and better access to finance and education for women.

“Never before has it been so important to consider the economics of nature and the role biodiversity plays in supporting a healthy economy,” said Guy Poppy, professor of Ecology at the University of Southampton, who was not involved in the review.

“Two of the major challenges currently facing humankind – climate change and COVID – both illustrate the need to link economics with the environment and to rethink how we will become more prosperous and healthy in the future.”

The review pointed to two key summits in 2021 – the COP15 talks on biodiversity and the COP26 meeting on climate change – as opportunities to start to undo the damage humanity has inflicted on its only home.

“We and our descendants deserve nothing less,” it said.

Source: From channelnewsasia

‘Under emergency, Agong should just appoint Dzulkefly to be health minister…’

Take charge or step down, Dzul tells health minister, deputies

P Ramlee: Former health ministry Dzulkefly Ahmad, we miss you and all the other highly qualified and capable Pakatan Harapan ministers.

How can we trust our current ministers when they don’t even know how to protect themselves and we are reporting more than 5,000 cases two weeks into the movement control order (MCO) and the emergency?

At this current autopilot way of management, Malaysia is doomed for a massive failure in both the public health and economic sectors.

Health Minister Adham Baba, his deputies Noor Azmi Ghazali and Aaron Ago Dagang, along with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, should be held accountable for the failure to stop the Covid-19 pandemic. Perhaps they should all resign and return power to Harapan.

Pegasus: I think Dzulkefly can do a much better job than the current incompetent health minister and his two deputies. If Harapan were to come back to power, the country will have a better chance of recovering because it has many smarter people to helm the government.

The prime minister himself isn’t doing much except handing out money. Our foreign direct investment is spiralling downwards, the economy is tanking, and people are jobless.

Perhaps the Yang di-Pertuan Agong should consider lifting the emergency so that Harapan will have a chance to make a comeback and fix the country before it spirals to the point of no return.

MokhtarAhmad: Under the emergency, the Agong should just appoint Dzulkefly to be the health minister. After all, His Majesty recently asked lawmakers to accept Budget 2021 irrespective of political allegiance.

So, on that same basis, Tuanku should also do what is best for the nation and the rakyat.

BluePanther4725: It’s not just Adham; the entire incompetent, backdoor Perikatan Nasional (PN) cabinet should resign now. This bunch of politicians have mismanaged our country, causing our economy to collapse and the pandemic to go out of control.

When these ‘traitors’ hijacked our country with the Sheraton Move, they didn’t expect to handle the pandemic crisis. All they wanted was to make a quick buck enriching themselves.

Now they found that the responsibility is beyond their capabilities, they still don’t want to let go until they destroy the country completely. The only thing that enables them to stay in power now is the emergency. We must get rid of them somehow.

Vasantha: Right on, Dzulkefly! It is likely the pandemic situation is not getting better as it seems nobody knows exactly who to refer to. Everyone is just pointing their fingers to somebody else.

I say this due to the experience of a friend of mine. She tested positive and was quarantined in a hotel on Jan 8 and only got her release letter on Jan 29 – 21 days later!

Fortunately for her and for Malaysia, her employer was careful enough to keep her in self-isolation.

There was not a single call from the Health Ministry to ensure the patient was in solitary confinement and calls to the ministry were not answered, emails had terribly delayed responses, and it was only on the 19th day that there was a clear reply to contact the Covid-19 Assessment Centre (CAC), for which you can never google the contact number!

I cannot understand why all the secrecy and why the need to send people on an endless wild goose chase. Can the ministry not have clear-cut standard operating procedures (SOPs) or reliable staff to give clear answers on the who, what and where?

I’m quite sure this would have been handled better by Dzulkefly and his team. Save Malaysia!

Ipoh Pp: Mr PM, open your eyes and keep your ear to the ground. Look at all the complaints about these three stooges – the health minister and his two deputies.

Mr PM, get more qualified people to lead the Health Ministry, especially now with the Covid-19 problem getting worse by the day.

How many more of us must die before you do the right thing? Your ministers haven’t a clue in the world. Please co-op personnel even if it means they are from the opposition. It’s a life and death situation, Mr PM. Please!

OrangePony5652: The health minister and his two deputies are riding on the pandemic waves in silence, collecting their fat monthly salaries. They have not taken ownership of the ministry because all three are incompetent.

The overworked Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has finally admitted that he is “just a messenger.”

There is certainly no necessity for the health minister and his two deputies, and the savings made from their salaries and allowances can be re-channelled to the frontliners who have been working their butts off since the outbreak.

Rupert16: The backdoor PM can afford RM35 million to build three community halls in his constituency of Pagoh as a priority, but he has no priority in having enough personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospital staff.

PPE shortage is currently happening and will only get worse. What a disgrace.

PinkCougar9549: Muhyiddin spent all the government money he could lay his hands on to build a nice and fatherly image as PM but fell truly short of a good strategy to lead the country out of this pandemic situation.

Now, many SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) have bled dry, are desperate, and the eventual decision will be to close down and terminate all employees. This has started and will be worse soon.

The goal of a 95 percent Malay cabinet is only nice to look at for a race extremist like Muhyiddin. You destroyed the country simply because you can’t lead effectively and have a bunch of useless cabinet members.

If the B40 (bottom 40 percent) Malays don’t wake up and reject all corrupted Malay leaders, we must prepare for a lot more suffering to come.

SME owners can close down, retrench all their employees, and live for years on their accumulated wealth. However, unemployed Malays can’t sustain long with no income.

Source : From Malaysiakini

There have been a number of concerns highlighted about the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine over the last few weeks. As young Malaysian scientists, we would like to delve into the science or technology behind the mRNA vaccines in the hope that it would provide the people with a more wholesome understanding of the technology.

Like the general population, the scientific community was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Covid-19 virus. Among other initiatives, there was an urgent need for scientists to try to develop a vaccine that would stop the spread of the virus. 

Although the Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented, scientists and global public health experts have been preparing for large-scale outbreaks since the 1990s. 

The coronaviruses that caused the previous Sars and Mers epidemics (and now the Covid-19 pandemic) are among harmful viruses and bacteria that have made the priority list in the 2016 World Health Organisation (WHO) R&D Blueprint for Action to Prevent Epidemics, found here.

Scientists have been researching various new technologies to enable rapid production of effective vaccines against such harmful virus and bacteria. The mRNA has been studied for a long time in the laboratory and clinical settings and the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines that were approved were built on these scientific advancements. 

It is for this reason, along with the dedicated public and private funding for Covid-19 research, that these vaccines were developed rapidly to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. (Click here for the history of the mRNA vaccine.)

The mRNA vaccines use molecules called mRNA that contain information to instruct the cells in our body to produce a small fraction of the virus that will then trigger an immune response. This allows the vaccinated person’s immune system to defend itself against natural Covid-19 infection.

Unlike traditional vaccines, the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines are formulated without using any actual Covid-19 virus – live or attenuated – which attests to the safety aspect of the vaccine as the mRNA vaccine itself will not cause Covid-19 infection. 

In addition, as no live sample of the Covid-19 virus was used during the manufacturing of these mRNA vaccines, there is no risk of virus contamination in these vaccines.

In December 2020, two Covid-19 vaccines were approved by the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA). As soon as these mRNA vaccines were approved, many people were concerned about the safety and efficacy of these vaccines. 

While these concerns are genuine, there is a need to address several misconceptions underlying some of these concerns, with clear scientific facts and information.

A vaccine usually takes years to be developed

Many articles that are available to the public have already addressed the scientific basis of these mRNA vaccines. We would like to highlight a few issues and hopefully, bring more clarity.

A vaccine usually takes years to be developed. However, due to the urgency of the pandemic, a massive amount of resources was put in globally – both in terms of human capital and funding, and the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines have been made a priority internationally to speed up the clearance for clinical trials. 

The availability of advanced high-end technologies such as computer simulation has also contributed to the expedited development of Covid-19 mRNA vaccines.

The Covid-19 mRNA vaccines have gone through rigorous laboratory and animal testing followed by a comprehensive human clinical trial. To ensure the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, these trials involved up to 10 times the usual number of clinical trial participants, recruited from people of diverse ages and ethnicities. 

To read about the clinical trials, and the breakdown of its volunteers, click here and here. There have also been numerous research efforts – both ongoing and completed – on mRNA vaccines that are conducted by scientists globally. 

Despite the speed, the development process for these vaccines has followed the stringent safety standards that have been set by global regulatory bodies and were approved at each level of clinical trial phases.

The side effects of vaccination, whether with traditional vaccines or mRNA vaccines, have been documented in-depth and can be found online. The side effects of Covid-19 mRNA vaccines have also been transparently reported by the vaccine manufacturers. 

It is known that some people who received these mRNA vaccines commonly experienced soreness, swollen arms, or fevers and chills. However, these side effects are not long-term, they are not dangerous, and they have been documented to have disappeared in due time.

With respect to the high-profile cases of deaths and more serious side effects, reportedly after taking the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, there are explanations for most of the cases, which indicate that they are not related to the vaccination. Click here, here and here to read the explanations.

There has also been a concern on the efficacy of these Covid-19 vaccines, whether it is the live or attenuated vaccines or mRNA vaccines, against newer variants circulating globally. 

However, recent studies have shown that the mRNA vaccines will remain effective to protect against different Covid-19 variants because the vaccines were designed to target a part of the virus that is less susceptible to genetic changes. 

Also, the mRNA vaccines and vaccines made using live or weakened virus are designed to trigger a more complex and broader immune response to confer protection against the virus in different ways. Therefore, the vaccines will still be able to trigger our immune system to fight against any mutated or newer variants of the virus. 

Concurrently, scientists continue to closely monitor the appearance of new variants while actively researching and preparing to produce a newer vaccine against potential variants, should the current list of vaccines be found ineffective in the future.

The safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines are at the heart of every regulatory process and this process cannot be compromised in order to ensure that the long-term health of citizens of a country remains optimal.

In Malaysia, the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee has acquired the Pfizer vaccine (which currently has the highest reported efficacy) as part of a portfolio of vaccines for use by Malaysians. 

This portfolio will also include the AstraZeneca, Gamaleya, Sinovac and CanSino vaccines (depending on National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency approval).

The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), which has been a WHO Collaborating Centre for Regulatory Control of Pharmaceuticals since 1996, recently reviewed the scientific documents submitted by Pfizer and found that it met the international and national safety and efficacy requirements.

Our battle against Covid-19 is ultimately a shared one, and our goal remains the same – to protect lives and livelihoods. The public’s concern about the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines should be taken seriously and addressed with scientific truth if we want to win this battle. 

As scientists, we have shared some of the facts here, but more data surrounding the science behind the mRNA vaccine technology can be found online. We hope that everyone will arm themselves with information from trustworthy resources.

We hope that this response, highlighting the scientific evidence, can reassure everyone that all stakeholders, including the scientific community, have gone beyond the norm in committing to extreme precautions and care in evaluating and ensuring the efficacy and safety of the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines. 

As scientists, ensuring that public health is protected through the use of safe and effective vaccines are among the core purpose and primary motivations behind the development of any vaccines.

We also hope that the public will trust the scientific evidence in the midst of this public health crisis. We cannot stress enough that a successful Covid-19 vaccination programme is vital in our quest towards enjoying a pre-Covid-19 quality of life. 

We can protect our loved ones better when we protect ourselves. We hope that adherence to public health precautions will still be part and parcel of life, even post-vaccination, until we achieve herd immunity.

Source : From Malaysiakini