KINI ROUNDUP | Key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.
1. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has announced an RM250 billion economic stimulus package to mitigate to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including handouts for lower- and middle-income groups, infrastructure projects, free internet, and insurance coverage for Covid-19 testing.
2. Analysts lauded the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package particularly for its benefits to SMEs, micro-entrepreneurs, and wage earners. Hoteliers are less impressed.
3. Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said funds for the RM25 billion direct fiscal injection from the government into the stimulus package would come from a reallocation of funds from within the government, and stressed there would be no budget cuts.
4. The Pakatan Harapan presidential council welcomed the reconciliatory tone in Muhyiddin’s stimulus package speech, and urged for a bipartisan approach and a parliamentary debate to tackle the crisis.
5. As new Covid-19 cases are still being found, the Health Ministry is testing a Korean-made rapid antigen test kit to detect the virus. Meanwhile, Malaysia is among a number of countries selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to help find a cure.
6. Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said his ministry is preparing to face a ‘tsunami’ of Covid-19 cases as many Malaysians had gone on holiday earlier this month, including in high-risk countries like Japan and South Korea.
7. Malaysia had intervened early to stop the spread of Covid-19, but like South Korea, saw a spike following a religious gathering. The latest instalment of KiniGuide compares how is Malaysia is performing versus other countries in trying to break the disease’s chain of transmission.
8. Responding to a Malaysiakini report, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall said police had never blocked lorries transporting food and there are sufficient workers to help unload them at the market.
9. In his capacity as Bersatu president, Muhyiddin gave RM4,000 to each of the party’s 189 divisions to help cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
10. Following public outrage over the termination of three community activists from Yayasan Kebajikan Negara, the office of Women and Family Development Minister Rina Harun has recalled one of them - Syed Azmi Alhabshi - to continue serving.
Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker.
Malaysiakini is providing free access to the most important updates on the coronavirus pandemic. You can find them here.
