Tighter movement restrictions and 9 news from yesterday

KINI ROUNDUP | Here are key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

1. Two areas near Simpang Renggam, Johor, have been placed under an enhanced movement control order for two weeks due to a spike in Covid-19 cases. All businesses will close and people are to remain indoors while health officials check on them, house-to-house.

2. The National Security Council will tomorrow (Saturday) announce stricter guidelines on enforcing the movement control order for the rest of the country, which would include tighter regulations for those going out shopping.

3. The number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia now exceeds 2,000, with 235 new cases being reported, including 23 deaths so far. The government is studying a range of potential treatments for patients, including new drugs and convalescent plasma from Covid-19 survivors.

4. All medical and support staff at Teluk Intan Hospital have been ordered to undergo Covid-19 testing after 39 healthcare workers there were tested positive. As many as 80 healthcare workers have been infected nationwide.

5. A drive-through Covid-19 testing service at a private hospital has detected seven cases in just three days, including two who had returned from the UK but did not show symptoms.

6. The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry is working on a smartphone application akin to Singapore’s ‘Trace Together’ app, which could help track the movement of Malaysians in a bid to help trace close contacts of Covid-19 patients.

7. Economists foresee a recession for Malaysia due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but the ensuing mass migration to digitisation is seen as offering a silver lining.

8. Senior Minister Azmin Ali is expected to meet all 13 opposition and independent assemblypersons in Selangor to discuss funding for Covid-19-related initiatives, which are to be unveiled today.

9. Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa has terminated the services of all 10 Resident Representative Councils (MPP) in Kuala Lumpur due to unsatisfactory service, but Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil disputed this by pointing out the MPP in his constituency has received accolades from the ministry and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

10. Amid infighting, Bersatu now appears to have two secretaries-general – with Marzuki Yahya aligned to party chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Hamzah Zainuddin aligned to party president Muhyiddin Yassin.