Malaysia warns of rising number of COVID-19 deaths, cases among children

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian health authorities have raised concerns about a growing number of coronavirus deaths and serious cases involving children, after a surge in overall infections forced the Southeast Asian nation into a strict lockdown.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin declared a two-week "total lockdown" from June 1-14, as daily COVID-19 cases and deaths hit record numbers, with the government warning the outbreak may be linked to more contagious variants.

Malaysia recorded the deaths of three children aged below five due to the coronavirus in the first five months of this year, the same number recorded over the whole of 2020, according to Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah.

A total of 27 children, including 19 below the age of five, also had to be treated in intensive care between January and May after contracting the virus, up from eight cases last year.

"The health ministry hopes all parties, especially parents and guardians, play an important part in protecting those with low immunity, such as babies and children, from COVID-19," Noor Hisham said in a statement.

Noor Hisham did not say how many children had been tested for COVID-19 or if authorities planned to ramp up testing among minors.

Neighboring Singapore also warned last month that new coronavirus variants, such as the one first detected in India, were affecting more children.

On Monday, Malaysian Health Minister Adham Baba said a total of 82,341 children had been infected with the coronavirus between January last year and May 30 this year.

Malaysia's total caseload shot past 600,000 on Friday, the third-highest total in the region behind Indonesia and the Philippines.

It saw a record daily rise in cases of 9,020 on Saturday and its highest daily death toll of 126 on Wednesday.

The government may consider making vaccination mandatory to ensure a target of inoculating 80% of Malaysia's 32 million people is met and legal action might be taken against anti-vaxxers, state newswire Bernama cited the prime minister as saying.

"I hope we can speed up vaccinations. What is important is not to have people saying don't get vaccinated," he said.

About 2.2 million people had received at least one vaccine dose as of Friday, the health ministry said.

-reuters

'Medibot' to do rounds on Malaysian virus wards

Malaysian scientists have created a barrel-shaped robot on wheels that they hope will make the rounds on hospital wards to check on coronavirus patients, reducing health workers' risk of infection.

"Medibot" is a 1.5 metre tall (five foot) white robot, equipped with a camera and screen via which patients can communicate remotely with medics.

The invention, built by scientists at the International Islamic University Malaysia, is also fitted with a device to check patients' temperatures remotely.

It is aimed at helping nurses and doctors working on the wards with social distancing, Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, a member of the team behind the invention, told AFP.

It cost about 15,000 ringgit ($3,500) to develop, and the university plans to trial it soon in their own private hospital, which does not treat virus patients, said Zulkifli.

If that proves a success, the scientists hope it can be used in government hospitals where people with COVID-19 are sent.

Malaysia has reported 4,683 coronavirus cases, including 76 deaths.

From Thailand to Israel, robots are being used in the fight against the coronavirus, which has killed over 110,000 people worldwide.

They are being increasingly relied on as fast, efficient, contagion-proof champions in the war against the virus.

Agence France-Presse

Malaysia’s new king calls for racial unity at coronation

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysia’s sports-loving Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah called for racial unity as he was installed Tuesday as the country’s 16th king under a unique rotating monarchy system.

It was a double celebration for Sultan Abdullah from central Pahang state, who turned 59 the same day.

He was picked as Malaysia’s new ruler in January, after Sultan Muhammad V from northeast Kelantan state abruptly resigned after just two years on the throne in the first abdication in the nation’s history.

Nine ethnic Malay state rulers take turns as king for five-year terms under the world’s only such system, which has been maintained since Malaysia’s independence from Britain in 1957.

In his coronation speech, Sultan Abdullah warned that any attempt to sow racial discord in the country was akin to “playing with fire that will burn not only oneself but also burn down the whole village.

“Unity and national harmony are the country’s pillars of strength. Do not ever stoke racial misunderstanding by raising matters that can threaten national unity and harmony,” he said.


Garbed in black and gold regalia, Sultan Abdullah voiced confidence that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s government is able to tackle economic and social challenges in trying to rebuild the country after winning last year’s elections.

A large number of ethnic Malay Muslims, who make up about 60 percent of Malaysia’s 32 million people, still support the opposition.

While carrying out economic and institutional reforms, Mahathir’s multiethnic alliance has to quell fears among Malays that their privileges under decades-old affirmative action that favors them in jobs, business and education will be eliminated.

Ethnic Chinese and Indians comprise about 30 percent of the population.

Mahathir in his speech acknowledged minor incidents of racial strife and said the government has set up an advisory body to strengthen racial unity. He said the government will step up efforts to bolster the economy and fight corruption to ensure that “no one is above the law.”

Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan also attended the ceremony at the national palace, steeped in centuries-old Malay tradition.

British-educated Sultan Abdullah is a prominent figure in sport bodies. He is a council member of the world football governing body FIFA, president of the Asian Hockey Federation, and an executive board member of the International Hockey Federation.

He took over after Sultan Muhammad V, 49, quit shortly after marrying a 25-year-old former Russian beauty queen last November. Sultan Muhammad however, reportedly divorced his wife recently.

Known as the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, or He Who Is Made Lord, Malaysia’s king plays a largely ceremonial role, since administrative power is vested in the prime minister and Parliament. The monarch is highly regarded as the guardian of Islam and Malay tradition, particularly among the Malay Muslim majority. He is also the nominal head of the government and armed forces.

All laws, Cabinet appointments and the dissolution of Parliament for general elections require his assent. The king also issues pardons for criminals. /gsg

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Boy’s penis injured in supermarket escalator accident

IPOH, Malaysia — What was supposed to be a happy outing for Mohd Rohizan Mohd Radzi and his three-year-old son to buy toys at a mall took a bizarre turn when the little boy’s pants got stuck in the escalator.

The 22-year-old fisherman’s son landed in the hospital after his penis was stuck in the escalator at the supermarket in Bagan Serai where they live, some 92km from here.

“We had just arrived at the mall and my son was impatient. He let go of my hand and ran towards the escalator on his own.

“I couldn’t stop him in time, but he has always been like this when he is excited about something. He can’t wait for me to walk with him,” he related of the incident that occurred around 8:15 p.m. on Monday.

Speaking to The Star yesterday, Mohd Rohizan said as he was about to take the escalator to get to the third floor of the mall where the toys department was located, he heard his son’s screams.

“I was so shocked. I didn’t expect anything like this to happen.

“Luckily, a man who was beside my son when his pants got trapped in the escalator pressed the stop button,” he said.

After being rescued by the Fire and Rescue Department at 8.50pm, the injured boy was rushed to the Taiping Hospital for treatment.

Mohd Rohizan said according to the specialist treating his son, his outer foreskin was torn.

“They told me the injury was quite serious although only the top and the bottom side of the penis was scraped.

“They still can’t tell me if they could sew back the torn part of his penis,” he said.

Mohd Rohizan also said his son could still pass urine as normal, but it stung during baths.

Mohd Rohizan said his son has to undergo a more thorough checkup by the specialist to ensure there were no other injuries.

source: Mohd Rohizan said his son has to undergo a more thorough checkup by the specialist to ensure there were no other injuries.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Malaysia dismisses allegations that search efforts mired in confusion

KUALA LUMPUR — Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has denied allegations that the hunt for a missing jet was in disarray, after the search veered far from its planned route and several countries were reported to be angry over the “mishandling” of the operation.

Vietnam, whose southern coast had been the focus of the recovery effort, initially suspended its air and sea search as it waited for Malaysia to clarify the new direction of the hunt.

“We’ve decided to temporarily suspend some search and rescue activities pending information from Malaysia,” deputy minister of transport Pham Quy Tieu said, adding that boats were still searching the area, but on a smaller scale.

Army deputy chief of staff Vo Van Tuan said later that “we decided to send two aircraft and nine boats to search.”

China said conflicting information about its course was “pretty chaotic.”

Asked about reports that flight MH370 could have veered well off course, as far as the Malacca Strait, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters: “We noticed that the Malaysian side later denied this piece of information.

“So right now, there is a lot of information, and it’s pretty chaotic, so up to this point we too have had difficulty confirming whether it is accurate or not.”

Hishammuddin, however, dismissed allegations that search efforts were mired in confusion after a series of false alarms, rumors and contradictory statements.

He said Malaysia would “never give up hope” of finding the plane’s 239 passengers and crew.

“It’s far from it. It’s only confusion if you want it to be seen as confusion,” he told a press conference Wedneday. “I think it’s not a matter of chaos. There is a lot of speculation that we have answered in the last few days.”

Malaysian air force chief General Rodzali Daud attempted to explain why the search zone had been expanded, saying that military radar had detected an unidentified plane early on Saturday north of the straits of Malacca.

He said they had “plotted” the plane but were not able to confirm it was MH370.

The confusion has fuelled perception that Malaysian authorities are unable to handle a crisis on this scale.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Blame game erupts as China criticizes Malaysia over MH370

BEIJING – Beijing on Monday blamed Kuala Lumpur for a lack of information about a vanished Malaysia Airlines flight, as tearful relatives of the 153 Chinese passengers aboard voiced frustration with all sides of the response effort.

Nearly two-thirds of the 239 people aboard Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 were from China, and if the loss of the aircraft is confirmed, it would be China’s second-worst air disaster in history.

“The Malaysian side attaches importance to the incident with a sincere attitude, but in light of the situation, the Malaysian side needs to step up their efforts,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters at a regular briefing.

Qin declined to pinpoint any specific areas of the Malaysian response with which Chinese authorities were dissatisfied, noting that “the incident is still under investigation”.

But China’s state-run media minced no words on Monday, lashing out at Malaysia and its national carrier over their handling of the missing jet, demanding answers despite the early stage of the investigation and calling for a swifter effort.

Officials said two Europeans whose names were on the passenger manifest — who both had their passports stolen in Thailand — were not on board.

“The Malaysian side cannot shirk its responsibilities,” the Global Times newspaper, which is close to China’s ruling Communist Party, wrote in a scathing editorial. “The initial response from Malaysia was not swift enough.

“There are loopholes in the work of Malaysia Airlines and security authorities,” it said.

“If it is due to a deadly mechanical breakdown or pilot error, then Malaysia Airlines should take the blame. If this is a terrorist attack, then the security check at the Kuala Lumpur airport and on the flight is questionable.”

China itself regularly enforces heavyweight security, while authorities are often secretive about real or alleged incidents.

 Terrorism fears

The China Daily newspaper wrote in an editorial that “terrorism cannot be ruled out”, with Malaysian and international authorities still at a loss to explain how at least two passengers were able to board with stolen Italian and Austrian passports.

“Who were they and why were they using false passports?” the paper asked.

“The fact that some of the passengers on board were travelling with false passports should serve as a reminder to the whole world that security can never be too tight, at airports in particular, since terrorism, the evil of the world, is still trying to stain human civilization with the blood of innocent lives,” it added.

Malaysia’s police chief said Monday that one of the men who used the passports had been identified, after ministers reportedly said they had Asian facial features.

At a Beijing hotel, Malaysian embassy officials were processing visa applications for families wanting to take up an airline’s offer to travel to Kuala Lumpur to be closer to the rescue operations.

Scores of relatives made their way into the room, some in groups of five or six, clutching handkerchiefs and wiping away tears from their faces.

Some family members are expected to travel from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur on a 1:30 a.m. flight Tuesday, but many said they would not go.

“There is more we can do here in China,” one woman told AFP. “They haven’t even found the plane yet.”

Calls for action

Some have criticized Malaysia Airlines’ response and information disclosure, asking the Chinese government to devote “strong attention” to the incident.

“There is very little information coming from the airline,” lamented one 40-year-old Chinese man, who said his best friend was on the plane. “They are very slow. We have to rely on the media.”

Others have called for top Chinese officials to help the family members deal with the airline, drawing a contrast with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has reportedly visited families in Kuala Lumpur along with his wife.

Beijing sent a working group to Malaysia Monday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, including officials from the foreign, public security and transport ministries.

The aircraft’s disappearance came one week after a deadly attack at a train station in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, in which a group of knife-wielding assailants killed 29 people and wounded 143.

Both Beijing and Washington have condemned the mass stabbing as an act of terror, with Chinese authorities blaming it on separatists from the restive far western region of Xinjiang.

Even as information remains sparse and the hours tick by, many relatives in Beijing continue to believe that the passengers may yet be found, according to one US-trained psychologist who counselled about 20 families awaiting news at the hotel.

“I think most of them are holding onto that thin ray of hope,” he said. “Whether they believe it to be realistic or not, most of them are not letting it go.”

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Malaysia says ‘mystified’ as no jet debris found

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia said Monday there is still no trace of wreckage from a jet that vanished with 239 people on board, deepening the anguish of relatives two days after the “mystifying” disappearance.

A potential breakthrough emerged Sunday when an aircraft scouring waters off southern Vietnam — part of an international search and rescue effort — spotted two objects authorities said could be debris from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

But Malaysian authorities said there was no confirmation they came from the Boeing 777 which slipped off radar screens early on Saturday, an hour after leaving Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.

“Unfortunately ladies and gentleman, we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft itself,” said Malaysia’s civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.

“This unprecedented missing aircraft mystery — it is mystifying and we are increasing our efforts to do what we have to do,” he told a press conference.

Malaysia has launched a terror probe after at least two of the passengers on board were found to have travelled on stolen passports.

But Azharuddin had few answers to the burning questions surrounding the plane’s fate. Asked whether it was possible the plane had been hijacked or disintegrated mid-air, he said nothing could be ruled out.

“We are looking at every angle. We are looking at every aspect of what could have happened,” he said. “Again, we have to get concrete evidence… we have to find the aircraft.”

More than 150 Chinese are among the missing passengers and Beijing’s state media on Monday lashed out at Malaysia and its national carrier over their handling of the crisis.

“The Malaysian side cannot shirk its responsibilities,” the Global Times newspaper, which is close to the ruling Communist Party, wrote in a scathing editorial. “The initial response from Malaysia was not swift enough.”

China grief

At a Beijing hotel, Malaysian embassy officials were processing visa applications for families wanting to take up an airline offer to travel to Kuala Lumpur to be closer to the rescue operations.

Scores of relatives made their way into the room, some in groups of five or six, clutching handkerchiefs and wiping away tears from their faces.





Others said they would not go. “There is more we can do here in China,” one woman told AFP. “They haven’t even found the plane yet.”

A team of Chinese officials from government ministries headed for Malaysia on Monday, tasked with investigating the incident and helping family members already there.

As the search entered a third full day, other families of missing passengers gathered at a hotel in Malaysia’s administrative capital, Putrajaya, sharing breakfast as they stared intently at television news bulletins.

The search effort has zeroed in on waters off the remote Vietnamese island of Tho Chu, near where two large oil slicks — suspected to be caused by aircraft fuel — as well as the suspected debris were spotted on the weekend.

“All night we mobilized our most modern equipment for the search… but we found no sign of the objects,” Vice Admiral Ngo Van Phat told AFP of the hunt centred on Vietnam’s southwestern tip.

Tests on the oil slick that could indicate whether it came from the missing plane could be completed by later Monday, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency director general Amdan Kurish told AFP.

Malaysian authorities said they were also combing waters closer to their shores, further south of Tho Chu.

A total of 40 ships and 34 aircraft from an array of Southeast Asian countries, China and the United States have been involved in the search, with two Australian surveillance aircraft joining.

‘Asian features’
As they scramble to discover what happened, Malaysian officials have said there was a possibility that MH370 may have inexplicably turned back towards Kuala Lumpur.

The plane, captained by a veteran MAS pilot, had relayed no indications of distress, and weather at the time was said to be good.

Questions have also swirled over how at least two passengers boarded the jet on stolen passports, sparking an investigation into possible links with terrorism and a probe into the sale of passports in Thailand — where the documents were stolen over the past two years.

Two European names — Christian Kozel, an Austrian, and Luigi Maraldi of Italy — were listed on the passenger list, but neither man boarded the plane.

Malaysia’s Home Minister Zahid Hamidi reportedly said Sunday that the two passengers who did board using those passports looked Asian in appearance.

“I am still puzzled how come (immigration officers) cannot think: an Italian and Austrian but with Asian facial features,” Zahid was quoted as saying by Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama.

Interpol confirmed that “at least two passports” recorded in its Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database were used by passengers on the Malaysian flight.

The United States has sent an FBI team to help investigate the passengers, but US officials stressed there was as yet no evidence of terrorism.

Malaysia Airlines shares lost 10 percent in early trading Monday as the market reacted to the jet’s disappearance.

The incident is a massive blow for the carrier which has haemorrhaged cash for several years amid mounting competition from low-cost rivals such as AirAsia.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Kiram men in Sabah ‘relax’ as Malaysian air force drops bombs

MANILA, Philippines—”We’re relaxing here.” This was what Rajah Mudah Agbimuddin Kiram told Abraham Idjirani, spokesperson and secretary general of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, as Malaysia stepped up its offensive against members of the Sulu sultanate’s “Royal Army” in Sabah.

Idjirani also told the Inquirer by phone that according to the Agbimuddin Kiram, there were no casualties among the Kiram family’s followers in the reported bombing runs by Malaysian air force planes.

“I was on the phone with the rajah mudah (crown prince) two minutes ago and he told me that they are just relaxing there,” Idjirani said.

He added that it was  “divine intervention” that no one from the royal army was hit by the bombs dropped by the Malaysian air force.

Idjirani said that according to Agbimuddin Kiram, the bombs hit the Malaysian police and military.

source: globalnation.inquirer.net

Year of the Dragon roars into Asia

BEIJING - Asia welcomed the Year of the Dragon on Monday with a cacophony of fireworks, hoping the mightiest sign in the Chinese zodiac will usher in the wealth and power it represents.

From Malaysia to South Korea, millions of people traveled huge distances to reunite with their families for Lunar New Year -- the most important holiday of the year for many in Asia -- indulging in feasts or watching dragon dances.

As the clock hit midnight, Beijing's skyline lit up with color as families across the Chinese capital set off boxes and boxes of fireworks to ward off evil spirits in the new year -- a scene repeated across the country.

Those living in the Philippines, meanwhile, were able to sleep in on Monday after the Lunar New Year became an official holiday for the first time, despite objections from some in the business community.

The dragon is the most favorable and revered sign in the 12-year Chinese zodiac -- a symbol of royalty, fortune and power that is also used in other cultures that see in the Lunar New Year, such as in Vietnam.

As such, hospitals across China and in Chinese communities are bracing for a baby boom as couples try to have a child this year.

Nannies in Beijing and neighboring Tianjin are charging more in 2012, and the beds in the capital's Maternity Hospital are all booked up until August, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong even took advantage of the Dragon to call on the country's residents to boost a stubbornly low birth rate, in an attempt to reduce the government's heavy reliance on foreign workers.

"I fervently hope that this year will be a big Dragon Year for babies... This is critical to preserve a Singapore core in our society," he said in his new year message.

But in Hong Kong, where tens of thousands of pregnant mainlanders come to give birth every year to gain residency rights for their babies, the Dragon may not prove such a boon as it could exacerbate problems such as limited beds and soaring delivery costs.

And according to some astrologers and geomancers, the Dragon may bring natural disasters and financial volatility to an already destabilized world.

Hong Kong feng shui master Anthony Cheng warned a "scandalous corruption case" would rock China in the second half of 2012, and also said high-ranking Chinese officials would be forced to step down, thrown behind bars or even die.

But people across Asia disregarded the doomsday predictions over the holiday, preferring to feast and celebrate with their families, and pray at temples or pagodas.

Highways in Malaysia, where 25 percent of the population is ethnic Chinese, were clogged at the weekend while the capital Kuala Lumpur became almost deserted as people traveled home.

In South Korea, which also celebrates the Lunar New Year, more than half of the entire population -- or some 31 million people -- took to roads, railways and planes for the holiday.

But stores in the capital Seoul -- normally quiet at this time of year -- bustled with activity as tens of thousands of tourists from China swamped major shopping areas to spend an expected 100 billion won ($88 million) in January.

"I feel like I'm walking on the street in China. There are so many of them," Park Eun-Yong, a South Korean college student, told AFP. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com