M'sia ponders life beyond Phase 2 MCO and 9 news from yesterday

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

1. As Phase 2 of the movement control order nears its expiry, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (photo, above) will brief the prime minister today on its effectiveness and some options on how to move forward.

2. An online poll by the National Security Council finds 88 percent of more than 210,000 respondents are in favour of extending the movement control order. The Academy of Medicine of Malaysia also wants the order extended beyond Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

3. Local researchers suggest gradually lifting restrictions in stages, while a Hong Kong study of China’s experience suggests countries that lift their cordon sanitaire should closely monitor for a resurgence of the disease until a vaccine is available.

4. Even if the movement control order is allowed to expire on April 14, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said not all freedoms will be restored immediately and there will still be some restrictions in place.

5. An NGO has disputed Ismail Sabri’s claim that the Orang Asli are not being left out of the government’s food aid programmes, while Pakatan Harapan MPs cried foul that food distributions for their constituents have been postponed due to political interference.

6. NGOs have voiced concern that the surging demand for surgical gloves could give rise to exploitative working conditions for the industry’s employees.

7. Veterinary immunology expert Dr Farina Mustaffa Kamal said pets found to have Covid-19 must be quarantined, but said there’s no evidence so far that pets can infect humans, although the pets themselves are susceptible to the disease.

8. Former minister Rafidah Aziz has condemned the ‘disgusting’ manner in which ‘competent women’ appointed by the Pakatan Harapan administration to lead GLCs are being removed by the current administration.

9. PKR president Anwar Ibrahim vowed to tell Muslim leaders that Special Envoy to the Middle East Abdul Hadi Awang had falsely accused him of being a ‘Freemason’.

10. Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) has dismissed the claim of Sarawak Report that it had offered money for former works minister Baru Bian to join it.