Day: February 15, 2022

KUALA LUMPUR— A total of 206,748 children aged between five and 11, or 5.8 per cent of the group in Malaysia, have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids).

Based on the COVIDNOW website, a total of 13,373,479 individuals or 56.8 per cent of the adult population in the country, had received their booster dose.

A total of 22,938,190 individuals or 97.5 per cent of adults have completed their vaccination while 98.7 per cent or 23,214,625 individuals have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

As for adolescents aged 12 to 17, a total of 2,796,021 individuals or 89.9 per cent have completed their vaccination while 2,875,825 individuals or 92.5 per cent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

On Monday, a total of 149,888 vaccine doses were dispensed, with 38,738 as the first dose, 1,489 the second dose and 109,661 as booster dose, bringing the cumulative total of vaccine doses administered under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) to 65,198,894.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia)— Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah will lead Malaysia’s delegation to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ (AMM) Retreat from Feb 16-17 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The AMM retreat is the first scheduled meeting of the year in 2022 for the ASEAN Member States, said the Malaysian Foreign Ministry in a statement Tuesday.

Preceded by the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) from Feb 15-16, the Malaysian delegation to the ASEAN SOM will be led by the Secretary-General of Foreign Ministry, Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob, and SOM Leader of ASEAN-Malaysia.

“Among the issues that will be discussed by the Foreign Ministers are updates on the implementation of the decisions reached during the 38th and 39th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits, as well as ASEAN’s external relations.

“In addition, the Foreign Ministers will also discuss initiatives to take forward the agenda and key priorities of Cambodia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2022; and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

“As ASEAN Member States set sights towards developing the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision, Malaysia as the Co-Chair and Permanent Shepherd of the High-Level Task Force on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision remains committed in upholding ASEAN Centrality and fully supports Cambodia as Chair in ensuring ASEAN’s continuous progress at the regional and international level,” said the statement.

Cambodia helms the Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2022 with the theme “ASEAN A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together”.

The AMM Retreat will be chaired by Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn, with the participation of ASEAN Foreign Ministers, Secretary-General of ASEAN, and representative of Myanmar.

The session will be held in full compliance with the COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) put in place by the authorities of both countries.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

SINGAPORE– Singapore reported 9,082 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total tally to 478,577.

Of the new cases, 2,177 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, and 6,905 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

Among the PCR cases, 2,049 were local transmissions and 128 were imported cases.

Among the ART cases, with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 6,878 local transmissions and 27 imported cases, respectively.

A total of 1,332 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with 23 cases in intensive care units.

Nine death was reported from COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total death toll to 906, the ministry said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

KUALA LUMPUR– Malaysia reported 21,315 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight, bringing the national total to 3,061,550, according to the health ministry.

There are 81 new imported cases, with 21,234 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed.

A further 24 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 32,149.

The ministry reported 8,517 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 2,860,954.

There are 168,447 active cases, 199 are being held in intensive care and 115 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

The country reported 149,888 vaccine doses administered yesterday alone, and 80.5 percent of the population have received at least one dose, 78.8 percent are fully vaccinated and 41 percent have received boosters.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia)— Travellers from Malaysia are now allowed to enter the Philippines with proof of a complete vaccination certificate in MySejahtera, a mobile application developed by the Malaysian government.

According to the Foreign Ministry in a statement, this was following the agreement reached between the Malaysian and Philippine governments on Monday to mutually recognise the COVID-19 vaccination certificate.

Travellers from the Philippines are also allowed to enter Malaysia with proof of a complete vaccination certificate in VaxcertPH.

“The entry of travellers is also subject to the current quarantine procedures set by the authorities of both countries,” said the statement.

The agreement also allows the Malaysian Embassy in Manila to assist seven Malaysians stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Sunday to enter the Philippines for official and business purposes.

On Monday, media reported that all seven Malaysians were stranded at the airport after being informed by the Philippine authorities that the Malaysian digital vaccine certificate in the MySejahtera application was not acceptable proof of vaccination.

However, all of them were allowed to enter the republic yesterday as a result of the swift action of the Malaysian Embassy in Manila.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the Malaysian government in principle recognises travellers who have been inoculated with vaccines approved under the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or approved by the authorities of certain countries. However, the recognition of MySejahtera’s digital vaccination certificate is subject to the decision of other governments.

“Malaysia and the Philippines have also agreed to continue their cooperation towards verifying the authenticity of COVID-19 vaccination certificates of both countries via online with a safer and more secure system to facilitate the entry route of travellers who have been fully vaccinated,” the statement said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

KUALA LUMPUR— New COVID-19 infections in Malaysia rose to 22,133 cases Tuesday, making it the second highest total for this year.

Malaysia had previously logged 22,802 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (Feb 12).

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah tweeted that the country’s cumulative number of positive cases now stood at 3,083,683.

He said that 99.34 per cent or 21,987 of the new cases today were in categories one (asymptomatic) and two (mild symptoms), while 146 cases or 0.66 per cent were in categories three, four and five.

Patients in categories three have pneumonia, category four need oxygen supplementation and category five require respiratory aid.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK