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Seri Petaling Mosque, Titiwangsa classified as Covid-19 red zones: Annuar Musa

KUALA LUMPUR: The surrounding area of the Seri Petaling Mosque and Titiwangsa parliamentary constituency have been classified as Covid-19 red zones.

Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa (pix) said the two areas, particularly the mosque, would be under intensive monitoring during the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

“The Ministry of Health has defined an area which recorded more than 40 cases (of Covid-19) as a red zone,” he said in a live-streaming video via Facebook today.

Annuar said as of 2pm today, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya had recorded a total of 212 Covid-19 cases, while Labuan reported five cases, bringing the tally for Federal Territories to 217 cases.

As of Sunday, Lembah Pantai recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Kuala Lumpur at 90, while Titiwangsa reported 41 cases.

Annuar said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) would use drone technology to monitor stalls at public markets to ensure they are complying with the regulations.

He said DBKL had seized 36 stalls at Selayang Market yesterday for failing to observe the MCO.

Annuar also said that the authorities had to “escort” two tabligh convention participants to undergo health checks yesterday.

The two individuals were picked up at the People’s Housing Project (PPR) Jelatek and Precinct 5, Putrajaya respectively.

The Seri Petaling Mosque which hosted the tabligh convention from Feb 28 to March 1 is now the source of the single largest cluster of Covid-19 infections in the country. – Bernama

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March 23, 2020
Thermal scanners set up to screen departing passengers at KLIA main terminal

KUALA LUMPUR: All passengers departing from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) main terminal will now undergo body temperature screening through the use of thermal scanners placed before the check-in areas.

The screening for departing passengers runs from today until further notice, said Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), which operates KLIA as well as 38 other airports in the country.

“This is one of our many efforts to combat the Covid-19 outbreak and ensure the safety of all passengers and the airport community,” MAHB said in its social media postings.

It said the scanners are placed between the entrance to check-in counters B and C, as well as counters H and I.

Only departing passengers, staff and crew with a body temperature below 37.5 degrees Celcius are allowed to pass through the screening point into the check-in areas, the airport operator said.

“No senders and greeters will be allowed into the check-in areas. Exceptions will be given for one guardian of children or passengers needing special assistance,” it said.

A person who is denied entry needs to inform the respective airline and is recommended to immediately go to the clinic or hospital for a health check, MAHB added. – Bernama

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March 23, 2020
King expresses sadness, concern about healthcare workers infected with Covid-19

KUALA LUMPUR: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has expressed his sadness and concern over the news that several healthcare workers from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and private healthcare facilities have been infected with Covid-19.

Comptroller of the Royal Household of Istana Negara Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said Al-Sultan Abdullah was extremely concerned about the situation as the healthcare workers were the frontliners who have spent most of their time and energy to help contain the pandemic.

“As at March 21, the MOH has confirmed that 19 of its staff and five from the private healthcare facilities have been infected with Covid-19, while as at noon today, 212 new positive Covid-19 cases were reported, bringing the total to 1,518.

“Two of the 19 MOH staff are currently receiving treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) and investigations found that all of them were close contacts to the first and second generations of the tabligh clusters,” he said in a statement here today.

As of March 22, a total of 460 MOH healthcare workers had been tested negative for Covid-19, while the remaining 190 were awaiting results.

As of this afternoon, MOH confirmed that the Covid-19 total deaths in Malaysia stood at 14.

Ahmad Fadil said in this regard, His Majesty called on the people to be honest and truthful with health personnel in giving information about their travel history and close contacts to determine the source of infection thus containing the spread of the disease.

“It is important to be honest when undergoing the screening as the information given is vital to the MOH. This will also prevent MOH frontline personnel from getting infected.

“Al-Sultan Abdullah also urged those who had close contacts with confirmed Covid-19 cases and had developed symptoms of the disease to immediately go the nearest government health facilities for examination. Don’t take symptoms lightly,” he said.

Ahmad Fadil said the King also expressed his appreciation for the sacrifice, commitment and dedication of Covid-19 frontliners including personnel of MOH, government agencies as well as private healthcare facilities.

“His Majesty hopes that all of them will continue to remain resilient in carrying out their responsibilities for the safety of the people and our beloved country,” he added.

Al-Sultan Abdullah reiterated his advice for the people to comply with the Movement Control Order and follow the guidelines issued by the MOH to end the pandemic.

His Majesty also conveyed his condolences to family members of those who have died of Covid-19 and called on Malaysians to continue praying so that the Covid-19 situation can be tackled as soon as possible. – Bernama

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March 23, 2020
50% discount on traffic summonses paid online: Police

KUALA LUMPUR: Police are offering a 50% discount on traffic summonses for fine payments made online between Wednesday and Sunday.

Federal police traffic investigations and enforcement department director DCP Datuk Azisman Alias said today that the fine settlement via the e-payment campaign was offered in conjunction with the 213th Police Day commemoration.

“The campaign is intended to encourage the public to make online payments following the closure of all summons payment counters nationwide since March 18. It is also a way for us to encourage the public to adhere to the movement control order (MCO) currently being enforced in the country,“ he said.

Azisman said to lighten the financial burden the public is currently undergoing, police will offer the discount on summonses issued for certain offences.

He said the e-payments can be made on two portals – www.myeg.com.my and www.rilek.com.my.

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March 23, 2020
BREAKING: Atiku’s Son Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Son of Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has tested positive for Coronavirus.

Atiku confirmed this on his verified Twitter handle on Sunday.

He said, “My son has tested positive for Coronavirus.

“@NCDCGov has been duly informed and he has been moved to Gwagwalada Specialist Teaching Hospital in Abuja for treatment and management.

“I will appreciate it if you have him in your prayers. Stay safe, Coronavirus is real.”

My son has tested positive to coronavirus. @NCDCGov has been duly informed, and he has been moved to Gwagwalada Specialist Teaching Hospital in Abuja for treatment and management. I will appreciate it if you have him in your prayers. Stay safe, coronavirus is real. -AA

— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) March 22, 2020

SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the Nigerian Center For Disease Control confirmed that the number of cases in the country had hit 30.

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March 23, 2020
JUST IN: Coronavirus Cases Hit 30 In Nigeria As Lagos Confirms Three More Infections

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The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control has confirmed three more cases of Coronavirus in Lagos.

This was confirmed on Sunday evening via the agency’s Twitter handle.

It said, “Three new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Lagos.

“Two cases are returning travellers and one is a contact of a confirmed case.”

The latest discovery brings to total 30 confirmed cases of the virus in the country.

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March 23, 2020
BREAKING: Lagos Government Asks Civil Servants To Stay At Home For Two Weeks Over Coronavirus

The Lagos State Government has asked public officers to stay at home for 14 days as part of measures to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

The stay-at-home order affects officers from Grade level 1 to 12.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu gave the order on Sunday during a statewide address.

Nigeria has recorded 28 confirmed cases of the pandemic, raising fears of a further spread.

The situation has forced several state governments to take stringent measures including closing schools and restricting public gatherings.

International flights into Nigeria have also been suspended to curb the spread of the virus.

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March 23, 2020
Nigerian Youth Have Gone To Sleep? By Tao Bakare

Woke up this morning to the unfortunate reality of the Nigerian state, the failure of her youth to take up responsibilities as the thread and wool that holds her fabric together.

Flashback to the time when our past heroes, who were at the time youths, took up giant strides and went through the battles, upheavals, fights that ensured the liberation of the Nigerian state.

In the nineties, Nigeria was lucky to have the likes of Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Gani Fawehinmi, Femi Falana amongst others responsible for the many historical and ground-breaking achievement through measures of journalism, arts, literature and activism amongst others.

Unfortunately, today, the reverse is the case, as we now have illiterates, educated hypocrites and mediocres that make up over sixty five percent of the Nigerian population.

However, the blame cannot solely lie on the youths themselves, as it is loud enough that our leaders whom we entrusted our future unto have failed woefully to deliver in this respect. But also, it is noteworthy that the youths themselves have not helped to correct the anomalies, but have glaringly resolved to fold arms and watch their own future rubbed in the mud.

In the Nigeria of today, youths have been relegated to the position of back benchers, applauding mammoth and mere on Lookers in the running of state affairs, which they ought to be at the fore front, as in the times of the West African Students Union, when students, youths, led liberation movements across Africa, and also saw to the independence of West African states.

Obviously, it is crystal clear that youths, who occupy the largest percentage of Nigeria’s population now see themselves and thus submit to our doomed leaders, as election thugs, political hallelujah boys, political assassins and trash can. Instead of them to look ahead, beyond ethic bigotry and difference, it is unfortunate they now lead ethnic hate discussions and debates both online and offline, in turn, parading themselves as useless ‘ leaders of tomorrow’. I wonder how this country will pay it’s debts in the next twenty years, with this kind of bad debtors in town, the so called youths.

In a sane society, the youths should be the ultimate institution of political accountability and policy partner to the government, thereby, holding erring leaders accountable. Also, youths should serve as the rebranding tool for a collapsing or collapsed entity, like ours.

Recently, the chief of police, ordered for the disbandment of zonal SARS in Ogun State following the death of a promising young man, Tiamiyu Kazeem popularly known as Kaka, who until his death was the Vice Captain of Remo Stars Football Club.

The order of the IGP, came, not only regarding the fact that the young man who was the victim of yet another SARS menace, was a known football star, but also because the youths in Sagamu community flaunted their power as youths!

Moral of this recent case and it’s achievement, is that, so much can be achieved if youths wake up from their long mouth drooling slumber and take full responsibility for their own future.

Nevertheless, if they fall to do this, I fear they may sleep and never wake up.

The time To Take It Back is now!

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March 23, 2020
COVID19: Restrictions On Peaceful Assembly And Movement Without A Law Or State Of Emergency Is Unconstitutional By Inibehe Effiong

A follower on Twitter asked me on Saturday whether it is “constitutional” for the government to restrict religious and social gatherings because of Coronavirus?

By virtue of Section 45 of the 1999 constitution, the rights to peaceful assembly and free movement can be interfered with in the interest of public health and public safety. Is Coronavirus a threat to public health and public safety? The answer is obviously in the affirmative.

Section 14 (2)(b) of the constitution states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”

However, I urge President Buhari to declare a state of emergency throughout the federation in line with Section 305 of the constitution.

Section 305 (3)(d) of the constitution, allows for a state of emergency when “there is clear & present danger of breakdown of public order and public safety in the federation or any part thereof requiring extraordinary measures to avert such danger.” COVID-19 is a clear and present danger to public safety.

Unlike in the United States, States in Nigeria cannot declare emergency. A governor supported by 2/3 members of the House of Assembly can only request the president to do so for them as stated in Section 305 (4) of the constitution. This is an example of the fraudulent nature of our federalism.

Since there is no special law to my knowledge, apart from laws establishing national and States emergency management agencies, to address public health crisis, it is necessary for the President to declare a state of emergency in Nigeria to address the outbreak of Coronavirus.

In the absence of a law enabling these restrictions to social and religious gatherings, the legality of these measures is questionable. This is because fundamental rights cannot be derogated from except as prescribed in a law that is “reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.”

It is either a law is urgently enacted across the volatile states or the President invokes the state of emergency clause. As at today, there is no strong legal basis for restricting gatherings. None of the governors or the President has issued even an ordinary ‘Executive Order’.

In the United States for example where we copied our presidential system, President Trump declared a national emergency, and at least 48 States in the US have also declared emergency due to COVID-19. The American Congress also passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

In Nigeria, we are resorting to our usual militaristic way of doing things by relying on arbitrary executive fiat to tackle COVID-19. Nations do not become great just by the “good intentions” of politicians. Nations become great principally by adhering to the rule of law.

In the light of the foregoing, I strongly urge the federal and state governments to urgently take steps to address the apparent legal loopholes in their efforts to tackle Coronavirus. It is obvious that Nigeria is not prepared for an outbreak. We are doing trial and error.

We need a legal framework; not only to give legal backing to the restrictions on the fundamental rights of Nigerians to religion, association, assembly, movement, etc., but to also provide for reliefs for families and victims of COVID-19.

We should not wait for the worst to happen.

I wish to draw the attention of the government to the decision of the Court of Appeal in the celebrated case of Okafor v. Lagos State Government (2017) 4 NWLR (Pt. 1556) 404 where it was held that disobeying the “order” or “directive” of a governor is not a criminal offence.

In that case, Lagos State issued an order restricting movement during environmental sanitation, Okafor was arrested for disobeying the order. The court declared the arrest illegal and unconstitutional since there was no law that criminalized violation of the governor’s order.

Without a law or a state of emergency, it is illegal to arrest anyone for violating a mere executive order. Emotions cannot change the law. If religious leaders whose places of worship have been closed decide to challenge the closure in court, the government will likely lose.

I hope the government at all levels will listen to the voice of reason and initiate appropriate legal frameworks to support the containment of COVID-19. It is either we are a country of laws or a banana republic.

We should not yield to authoritarian rule because of expediency.

Inibehe Effiong is a Lagos-based legal practitioner and human rights activist

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March 23, 2020
11 Malaysian participants of Sulawesi tabligh rally detected in Tawau

PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Health today confirmed that 11 Malaysians who had travelled to Sulawesi, Indonesia to attend the international tabligh gathering had been detected in Tawau, Sabah yesterday.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pix) said all of them had undergone Covid-19 screening and had been quarantined pending test results.

“It is true that we have been waiting for them in Tawau and we have detected 11 of them … the swab test has been carried out, we are just waiting for the result,“ he told a Covid-19 daily press conference here.

He said about 80 to 100 Malaysians had travelled to Sulawesi to attend the gathering based on an engagement session between him and the tabligh leaders.

Asked about the remaining Malaysians who attended the rally, he said they were likely still in the neighbouring country.

Local media reported that the Ijtimak Asia 2020 function planned for March 19 to 22 was cancelled in view of the worsening Covid-19 situation.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said of the 1,306 cumulative positive cases in Malaysia as of noon today, 62% of the cases or 743 patients were linked to the to the tabligh gathering cluster at Masjid Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.

“This means that one in every 10 individuals who attended the tabligh gathering tested positive of Covid-19,“ he said.

He said based on his discussions with leaders of the tabligh group, the gathering in Sri Petaling involved 16,000 people.

Of the total, 14,500 were Malaysians while the rest were foreign citizens from 25 countries, he said.

Dr Noor Hisham added that so far, 11,000 participants had undergone screening.

He said there had been no Covid-19 cases from other gatherings in the country. – Bernama

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March 22, 2020