KINI ROUNDUP | Here are key headlines you may have missed, in brief.
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1. With its resources stretched thin, the Health Ministry is adopting new policies that could see fewer close contacts being tested for Covid-19, prompting concerns from other healthcare professionals.
2. The government is asking the opposition bloc to nominate three people to join a committee that will advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on when to end the emergency proclamation, but several Pakatan Harapan leaders have expressed reservations.
3. Health authorities are screening an entire village in Tanah Merah, Kelantan, for Covid-19 after several people returning to the village contracted the disease.
4. Parit MP Mohd Nizar Zakaria will replace Arau MP Shahidan Kassim as a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for Women, Children and Social Development, following questions over previous allegations of sexual misconduct against Shahidan.
5. Former Lord President of the Supreme Court Mohamed Salleh Abas, Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, and Senator Yaakob Sapari are among those reported to have tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday.
6. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim urged all lawmakers to write letters to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to plead for the emergency declaration to be rescinded.
7. With emergency powers at hand, the All Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia for the Reform of All Places of Detention said the government now have no excuse for not addressing the overcrowding of prisons.
8. Semambu assemblyperson Lee Chean Chung urged Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to explain why the site for Lynas’ permanent disposal facility was approved despite public health concerns.
9. Coin laundromats would be allowed to operate under newly revised movement control order rules, but staff must be on hand to ensure standard operating procedures are adhered to.
10. Experts say conflicting claims on the efficacy of Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine is difficult to interpret until the full dataset is published, and underscores the problems of releasing data through press releases instead of peer-reviewed journals.
