Covid-19 Updates Malaysia Today

Covid-19 Updates in Malaysia Today

The first Omicron case has been detected in Malaysia on 2nd Dec. Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the student at a university in Ipoh from South Africa tested positive for it, arrived in Malaysia on 19th Nov, before South Africa’s first reported Omicron case. Here are more updates from our Health Minister.

Cases in Malaysia on 17 September 2024

Updates on COVID-19 Coronavirus cases are announced by the Ministry of Health or Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah daily after 2pm.

Other Updates

Travel and Restrictions

Malaysia has lifted the travel on the South African countries; Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi and those countries are now added to the existing list of high-risk countries: Australia, USA, UK, Norway, France, Denmark, Canada, India, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

Source: KKM (28 Dec 2021) – Protocol for Travelers from High-Risk Countries

More Info: Malaysia COVID19 Travel, Quarantine, Testing Information

Cases and Deaths with Vaccination

Percentage of fully vaccinated population on 13th Aug was 30.3% and 1st Dec was 77.8% in 2021 (covidnow.moh.gov.my). With higher vaccination rate the number of Covid deaths has been reduced. However adherence to SOPs is still key here, more than 50% of cases reported now is of vaccinated individuals, though symptoms are mild, let’s not forget the vulnerable lot; the old, children and those with comorbidities. Flouting the SOPs is simply callous disregard for human life.

Source: github.com/MoH-Malaysia

deaths_new: deaths due to COVID-19 based on date reported to public

deaths_new_dod: deaths due to COVID-19 based on date of death

deaths_unvax (pvax/ fvax): number of unvaccinated (partially/ fully)-vaccinated individuals who died due to COVID-19 based on date of death

Covid Vaccination Malaysia

KKM Facebook: Walk-in Vaccination option is available for people who qualify for booster jab, and individuals over the age of 12 who have not been given their first/ second dose.

Where to get vaccinated: The function of “Find COVID-19 Vaccination Centre” for Walk-In Registration is available at protecthealth.com.my.

Booster Dose

All Malaysian residents aged 18 and above are eligible, priority for booster dose will be give to Healthcare, safety and defense front-liners, individuals over the age of 40, those with comorbidities, Pregnant women and individuals who need to travel overseas.

AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine recipients are to receive the same vaccine as booster and all others will receive BioNtech-Pfizer or AZ booster dose. Sinovac is for those who cannot have BioNtech/ AZ administered.

Vaccination Rate

Only less than 10% of people in low income countries have received at least one dose (ourworldindata.org).
The World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the rush in wealthy countries to roll out additional COVID vaccine doses is deepening the inequity in access to vaccines and is prolonging the pandemic. He said no country can boost its way out of the pandemic.
Health authorities in Nigeria said some COVID-19 doses donated by rich Western nations had a shelf life that left only weeks to administer. The country has destroyed more than a million doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines in Dec 2021 due to a surge in vaccine supply, which has highlighted issues relating to distribution and hesitation by citizens to get inoculated (aljazeera.com).

Vaccination for Children

Covid-19 SOPs

For individuals who are fully vaccinated, have low risk with no symptoms according to Phase 4 SOPs :

• Social events like weddings, parties, ceremonies are permitted at 50% capacity.
• Religious congregations are allowed at full capacity with physical distancing of at least 1 meter. Eating in the religious premise and organizing parade are not allowed.
• Travel: Vehicle at full capacity and Inter-state travel are allowed.
• Dine-in: Social distance of at least 1 meter at premise with good ventilation.

SOPs apply: Mask, temperature check, MySejahtera Check-in, etc. (All states are in Phase 4 except for Sarawak and Kelantan which are in Phase 3 – MCO Phases)

PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES: Night club, pub, gatherings that involve large group of people that cause difficulties in social distancing.

SOPs for Testing

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah encourages everyone who has done the self test to post their results (positive or negative) on the MySejahtera app so all the data can be gathered to make better decisions.

Home > COVID-19 Self Test > Update self-test results > Fill the details > Submit

• Self-screening is recommended before you travel interstate.
• Primary school pupils will undergo the mandatory Covid-19 tests on a rotational basis every Wednesday.
  

Recover from COVID-19

Tourism

• Tax exemption (assessment year 2021 to 2022) for tour agencies that organize tour packages.
• Individual income tax relief for domestic tourism expenses of up to RM1,000 for the 2021 and 2022 assessment year. You have to book from Tour agencies or accommodations that have Registered with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) – Check here.
• On top of the usual SOPs, service providers should give extra attention to Covid prevention measures like provision of gloves to guests at buffet counter, sanitation of seating areas that have been used, limit the number of visitors to avoid congestion.

Support Local Tourism

Opening Borders for Tourism

Assistance for B40 Group

• Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) will provide aid of RM2,000 to households with monthly income below RM2,500 with 3 or more children, etc. New Application and information update will be open from 1st to 31st Jan 2022. BKM will use the existing data of BPR (Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat) 2021 and BKC (Bantuan Khas Covid) B40 recipients. You can check here: bpr.hasil.gov.my
• Early Schooling Assistance – RM150 for school children in need
• PerantiSiswa – A tablet is provided for B40 students in Institutions of higher learning. Registration is expected to begin from Q2 2022.
• e-Start – RM150 e-wallet amount for youths. No details yet.

Latest on the Assistance

Assistance for Unemployed, Income Loss, Employers

• SIP Prihatin – Application from 15 Jul to 31 Dec 2021. For workers registered with the Employment Insurance System (EIS) who have lost their employment due to Covid-19. Job Search Allowance of RM300 per month for 2 months, and RM400 one-off if applicant gets a job.
• KerjayaGig – Monthly payment of RM 600 per individual in self- employment/gig work for up to 6 months.
• PenjanaKerjaya 3.0 (PEMERKASA) – Application 15 July to 31 December 2021. Incentive for Employers from all industries registered with SOCSO except sole proprietorship. 40-60% of monthly wages to employer. Eligible employees: Unemployed, Vulnerable groups, Apprenticeship, Replace foreign workers.
• Wage Subsidy Program 4.0 – ends on 30th October 2021.

Assistance for Small Medium Enterprise (SME)/ Business

Budget 2020/21

• SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme – A 50% matching grant of up to RM5,000 per SME will be provided over a period of 5 years for the subscription of digital services that will enhance competitiveness. Availability: From 17th February 2020 for 5 years or upon reaching 100k applications.
• Geran Khas Prihatin (GKP) – One-off financial assistance to Micro SMEs (revenue less than RM300k and not more than 4 employees). Ended.

Budget 2022 – More info later

• TEKUN – Loans of up to RM10,000 at zero interest and a 12-month moratorium.
• BSN and Agrobank – Micro financing of up to RM75,000 at zero interest for the first six months, with a moratorium of up to six months.
• Tax deductions relating to premise renovation and renewal costs of up to RM300,000 until Dec 31, 2022.
• For Micro SMEs, the government has proposed the postponement of tax instalment payments for six months until June 30, 2022.

Source

• mida.gov.my/people-and-economic-strategic-empowerment-programme-pemerkasa
• MCO Phases: malaysia.gov.my
• National Recovery Plan: pelanpemulihannegara.gov.my
• Budget 2021: belanjawan2021.treasury.gov.my
• bloople.net
• Google News
• KKM – Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia