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Key Highlights

• Politics vs empathy
  
  

• Red tape and a miscarriage
  
  

• PN reaches out to Dr M
  
  

Politics vs empathy

The Covid-19 situation in the country deteriorated to a new low with more than 13,000 new cases in a day.

But Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin promised that the light is visible at the end of the tunnel because the vaccination programme is steaming ahead.

However, his spirited defence of the government did not come across as being empathetic.

The prime minister claimed most people are getting the aid they needed and the kitchens of their homes are “filled up” with supplies.

As such, he said there was no need to put up white flags, but he joked that it was fine to put up blue flags - the colour of Perikatan Nasional.

The white flag campaign called on people who need help to put up a white flag outside their homes - many families in dire straits have done so and received help from the local community.

Muhyiddin acknowledged that some people may have slipped through the cracks in the aid distribution and promised to improve the government’s registration system.

He urged Malaysians to be patient and asked the people not to buy into the #KerajaanGagal (failed government) campaign.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Govt looking at allowing travel for the fully vaccinated - PM Dine-in is also being considered.
	Married couple detained over purported family suicide video The police say it's a bad influence on society.
	White Flag campaign inspires food drive in KL Group will distribute meals three to four times a month.

Red tape and a miscarriage

Life under the enhanced movement control order (MCO 3.0) has not been easy, especially with bureaucracy and again - a lack of empathy.

A husband blamed the bureaucracy for his wife’s miscarriage after they were given the run around before being allowed to leave the enhanced MCO area in Bandar Baru Sentul, Kuala Lumpur.

But they were not allowed to see their regular doctor. The wife was facing complications.

Three days later, a different police officer applied a different standard operating procedure and allowed them to leave without problem to see their regular doctor - but by then, the woman had suffered a miscarriage.

In April, police arrested people protesting for food at a separate enhanced MCO in Tawau, but later released them.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Locked down residents shower healthcare workers with gifts Residents of Bandar Baru Bangi cheer them from the flat corridors.
	Locally-made app helps single mums get help This is to provide relief during the lockdown.
	'Labuan’s success shows a way out for Klang Valley outbreak' Health DG says vaccination paid off

PN reaches out to Dr M

The PN government reached out to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad through Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

This was after it appointed Tengku Zafrul to lead a special cabinet committee to oversee the National Recovery Plan (NRP), similar to Mahathir’s proposed National Recovery Council.

However, Mahathir was not receptive to the apparent appeasement as he wants a body similar to the National Operations Council, which replaced the government after the 1969 riots.

The overtures came amid the PN government’s uncertain majority after Umno withdrew support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, although some from the party have rebelled against the decision.

Mahathir also hit out at the PN government for a facade of a Parliament sitting to appease the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s call to convene the legislature before August, and without a genuine debate.

The PN government had also approved Mahathir’s Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) as a political party on July 8.

PN appeared to be hedging its bet amid the political uncertainty but, to date, Pejuang is not prepared for its four MPs to lend its support to PN.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Full Parliament sitting to start on Sept 6 The July 26 session will be a 'special sitting'.
	KJ admits 'errors' as some ministers flout rules He acknowledged they hurt the Covid-19 lockdown.
	None of 3k vaccinated medical officers deteriorated to Category 5 'This shows vaccination works.'

A daily glance at Covid-19

• 13,215 new cases yesterday (July 15), the third consecutive day where fresh infections were in the five digits.
  
  
• Active cases hit another record high of 108,369. It was the second consecutive day where active cases were in the six digits.
  
  
• The infectivity rate climbed to 1.20. It was the first time it hit 1.20 since May 24.
  
  
• For trends on daily cases, tests, hospital beds capacity, vaccination progress and more, follow our Covid-19 tracker.
  
  

What else is happening?

• Former Umno leader Lokman Adam was sentenced to a month's jail for contempt of court. He was accused of intimidating a witness in former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's 1MDB graft trial.
  
  
• The government is shifting away from Sinovac's Covid-19 vaccine and will now use the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the main vaccine in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
  
  
• Sarawak will join Sabah to allow dine-in starting today, defying the federal government's National Security Council's standard operating procedure that does not allow dine-in under Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan.
  
  
• The government will be allowing those aged 60 and above to walk in for their Covid-19 vaccine, starting with a pilot project in the Klang Valley. However, the timeline is unclear.
  
  
• Muhammad Yusoff Rawther, who had accused parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim of sexual misconduct, filed a civil suit against Anwar after the Attorney-General's Chambers declined to file charges.
  
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS

	Govt must consider all contract appointments Cuepacs says the focus must not only be on medical officers.
	HKL seeks non-medical volunteers to help ease workload This includes duties like serving food to patients.
	Sept 9 decision on Rosmah bid to nullify graft case The date was fixed by the High Court.

What are people saying?

	Medical profession under siege by a dysfunctional govt By Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah
	A glimpse of the happenings - numerically By R Nadeswaran
	Why the need for another Covid-19 task force? By Malaysiakini readers

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