Good morning, here's what you need to know today.

Key Highlights

  • 'Simpler' SOPs soon

  • Delta domination

  • Youth activist threatened



'Simpler' SOPs soon

After 18 months of having to keep track of a constantly changing list of SOPs, the government is promising to make things simpler soon.

New Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government will introduce clear and easily understood SOPs as Putrajaya moves away from the current lockdown approach.

Covid-19 and wearing masks will be treated as a regular fact of life, and more sectors are slated to re-open when vaccination rates hit the "herd immunity" stage - which is expected next month.

As to herd immunity, there are concerns over the government's estimate for vaccination rates as it relies on 2010 census data, which means there is a possibility of an overestimation.

It's also not clear if the population of undocumented migrants are being factored in.

HIGHLIGHTS

MOH to intensify vaccination in five states
Lessons learnt from the Klang Valley task force.
Govt urged to help Sabah with vaccination
PKR rep wants 60pct of Sabahans vaxxed by end of Sept.
No deaths caused by vaccines- KJ
The health minister pledges to release more data.

 



Delta domination

Genomic sequencing of 265 Covid-19 samples in Malaysia in the past two weeks have all turned out to be of the Delta variant.

This reflects trends in many parts of the world where the highly transmissible variant quickly becomes the dominant variant.

The variant is also associated with an increased risk of severe illness and death, though it is not as capable as some earlier variants such as Beta in evading vaccine protections.

All vaccine types in use in Malaysia offer protection against the Delta variant.

HIGHLIGHTS

Yeo renews call on FTTIS approach
This would supplement vaccination drive
Improve mega PPVs, walk-in vaccinations - Subra
He also warns against ivermectin self-medication.
Covid-19 patient recalls nightmare giving birth alone
She was left unattended in a hospital.

 



Youth activist threatened

Environmental activist Shakila Zen received a package with a replica of a bloody severed hand and a letter threatening an acid attack against her.

The next day, she received a sexually explicit WhatsApp text harassing her.

Her crime? Shakila believes it was a video of her talking about the #Lawan rally which had gone viral.

The incident has traumatised the young activist, who said she may take a break from activism to ensure the safety of her family and her.

Shakila is not a member of Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat, which had organised the #Lawan rally.

SSR and #Lawan has been mainly backed by the youth - who have been at the forefront of organising protests against the government during the pandemic.

This included a candlelight vigil for Covid-19 fatalities, which ended with heavy-handed arrests by the police.

HIGHLIGHTS

Observers: Police ‘friendly’ during #Lawan rally
But intimidation persisted.
Voter registration slowing
DAP MP fears youths distancing from politics.
Saifuddin calls for a political ceasefire
He wants the focus to be on the pandemic.

 


A daily glance at Covid-19

  • 18,762 new cases yesterday (Sept 1).

  • The Klang Valley continues to show signs of a downtrend.

  • Kelantan - which has the second-lowest vaccination rate - reported another record high for the second consecutive day.

  • For trends on daily cases, tests, hospital bed capacity, vaccination progress and more, follow our Covid-19 tracker.


What else is happening?

  • Malaysia lost its first appeal to overturn Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli's disqualification from the shot put F20 event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

  • Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said Putrajaya has not made a decision whether to recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

  • Umno suspended its Youth wing executive council member Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris aka Papagomo for six years for violating the party constitution by suggesting the party works with Bersatu.

HIGHLIGHTS

Tenaganita not helping FGV with US ban
But it will provide human rights training to FGV.
PM to table 12MP in Parliament on Sept 27
Minister Mustapa Mohamed says the EPU will brief PM.
Umno drops appeal to recover RM116.7m
The party recovered RM114m from another suit.

 


What are people saying?

How Ismail Sabri's premiership may play out
By James Chai
Toxic competition in civil society will not inspire public confidence
By Lutfi Hakim Ariff
Root cause of problems or solutions for electoral boundaries
By Danesh Prakash Chacko & Fork Yow Leon

 


CARTOON KINI