New Covid-19 infection wave may emerge sooner than forecast
Senior citizens and individuals with chronic illnesses have been reminded to take their second Covid-19 booster shots as a potential new Covid-19 infection wave may emerge sooner than forecast, says the Health Minister.
Khairy Jamaluddin said this was based on the number of cases reported in recent days both here and across the Causeway.
“Over the past two to three days we have been reporting more than 2,000 cases a day against 1,000 and 2,000 previously.
“Today (Thursday), we have 2,796 cases with two new clusters reported at institutions of higher learning.
“So if we are not cautious, the cases will keep on increasing in the coming weeks,” he told reporters after officially opening the otorhinolaryngology centre and sleep lab at Hospital Rembau.
On Tuesday, Khairy said Covid-19 cases would fluctuate and a potential new infection wave might emerge in the next few months, despite the current situation being under control.
He said Malaysians ought to know the latest developments so that they can take preventive measures against contracting the virus.
Young
patients: Khairy visiting a ward for children with hearing problems
after officially opening the otorhinolaryngology centre and sleep lab at
Hospital Rembau. — Bernama
“This is more of a preventive measure so that we are ready and not to scare anyone. In fact, other nations have faced a similar situation,” he said.
Khairy said what was important was that the new wave was not as contagious and that the number of deaths and admissions into intensive care units remained low.
He said all states except Selangor, Johor, Kedah and Terengganu have reported an increase in the number of cases compared with the previous day while two new higher education clusters have also been reported.
“It is also my hope that those above 60 and those with chronic illnesses will take the second booster shot as this is the best way to keep them safe,” he said.
As of June 20, almost 108,000 individuals aged 12 years and above have received their second Covid-19 booster jabs. About 58,000 were aged above 60.
Khairy said he was also closely following the Covid-19 situation in Singapore.
“I have to do so because Malaysia and Singapore are in the same epidemiological area with no travel restrictions and hundreds of thousands crossing the Causeway daily.
“My Singapore counterpart has also told me that the republic has been seeing more BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants which were more transmissible than earlier variants,” he said, adding that these variants, however, had the same effect as other Omicron variants.
The CDC has approved a second COVID-19 booster for people age 50 and older that can be given 4 months after a first booster. People with moderate to severe ..
PM announces additional assistance under Keluarga Malaysia package
The B40 income group will receive additional cash assistance under the Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) aid to help alleviate their financial burden.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in a special announcement, said each household receiving the BKM aid would receive RM100 while single individuals would get RM50.
The move will benefit over 8.6 million people, comprising four million households, 1.2 million senior citizens, and 3.4 million single individuals, he said.
He added that the payment would be made in four stages starting June 27.
The decision to provide the financial assistance was taken after the government took into consideration the rising cost of living including increase in food prices, he said.
Alleviating burdens: Ismail Sabri speaking at the special announcement press conference at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya. — BernamaAlleviating burdens: Ismail Sabri speaking at the special announcement press conference at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya. — Bernama
“Each BKM recipient will receive up to RM500 according to their respective BKM qualification categories.
“The additional cash assistance paid together with the BKM Phase 2 payment involves an additional allocation of RM630mil,” said Ismail Sabri.
This, he said, would make the total allocation of BKM aid to RM1.74bil.
The assistance of up to RM2,500 for the B40 households announced for Budget 2022 last year was the largest incentive to date by the government, he added.
For more information and to check the application status, the public can visit https://bkm.hasil.gov.my/ from Monday.
Ismail Sabri also said that the temporary price subsidy for bottled cooking oil introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic would be discontinued from July 1.
The subsidy was for the 1kg, 2kg, 3kg and 5kg bottled cooking oil to help the rakyat facing difficulties during the pandemic.
“The government decided not to extend the subsidy for bottled cooking oil as it does not meet the initial goal of the initiative to help those affected by the pandemic.
“We also found that the assistance provided was misused by certain people including the commercial sector, industries and because of smuggling,” he said, adding that the oil subsidy cost the government RM55mil per month, which was initially slated for only three months from Aug 2021.
He, however, clarified that the subsidy for cooking oil in 1kg packets that was first announced in 2007 was still in effect.
“There was talk that the subsidy for cooking oil in packets was removed. It was not and is still subsidised,” he said.
The government has spent RM4bil in subsidies for cooking oil this year, compared to RM500mil in 2020 and RM2.2bil in 2021.
“The government subsidised 60,000 tonnes of cooking oil, which is more than the public requirement of 55,000 tonnes per month,” he added, referring to the 1kg packet cooking oil.
How does BRICS continually play its role in the world？
It's been 16 years since the foundation of the BRICS mechanism was laid. China hopes to work with all BRICS countries to respond to the major concerns of the international community and build a more comprehensive, closer, more practical and inclusive partnership. Even more, China hopes to keep its promises to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.Against current risks and challenges, the participants also pledged to ensure that the customs authorities of BRICS countries continue to work together to safeguard the international supply chain and promote rapid economic and trade recovery among BRICS countries. In this upcoming episode of "The Chat Room", we talk about how does BRICS continually play its role in the world. Also, focusing on the member states' achievements and challenges under BRICS, we invite five guests from BRICS countries to share their opinions. How does Sino-Indian cooperation play its role in the world? What's the current economic situation of BRICS? What roles has BRICS found itself in the world? How should we see BRICS+ in the future? #BRICS2022
China's Xi Slams Sanctions for 'Weaponizing' World Economy at BRICS
BRICS-led New Development Bank approaches 7th anniversary
China will host the 14th BRICS Summit on June 23 and Chinese President Xi Jinping will join with the leaders of Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa via video link to discuss issues of mutual concern as part of the summit themed around ushering in a new era for global development. The New Development Bank, established in 2015 by the BRICS countries, will soon celebrate its 7th anniversary. Tian Wei talks to the bank's Brazilian president Marcos Troyjo about his visions for the multilateral institution.#BRICS2022
Aerial photo taken on June 17, 2022 shows the headquarters building of the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the BRICS bank, in east China's Shanghai.(Photo: Xinhua)
In a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the BRICS business community to expand cooperation on cross-border e-commerce, logistics and local currencies.
As the 14th summit of the BRICS, a group of major emerging market economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, kicked off on Wednesday, there are growing calls from bankers and economists in BRICS countries, especially Russia, for the bloc to expand national currency settlements and lending to counter the US' weaponization of the dollar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a welcome address to BRICS Business Forum participants on Wednesday that the issue of creating an international reserve currency based on a basket of currencies is under review, Russian news agency TASS reported.
"The BRICS and other interested nations need to talk about setting up their own independent global financial system - whether it would be based on the Chinese currency or they will agree on something different. They need to debate this," Sergey Storchak, chief banker of Russian bank VEB.RF, told the Global Times in a video interview on Tuesday.
Storchak said that he hopes during China's presidency of this year's BRICS summit, member countries have open discussions on what really needs to be done.
VEB.RF is a major financial development institution in Russia that has been excluded from the SWIFT system.
There has been an ongoing discussion within the BRICS to accelerate payments in national currencies for years, and the need is becoming particularly urgent after the US removed some Russian banks from the SWIFT global interbank payments system and forced other economies to pay for its economic problems with sizeable financial tightening.
"If the voices of emerging markets are not being heard in the coming years, we need to think very seriously about setting up a parallel regional system, or maybe a global system," he said.
The impact of being pushed out of the SWIFT system is quite large, Storchak said. "The biggest issue is the transfer of money and information, and we need to come to the issue of the wide utilization of national currencies. It would mean that we would not need to use the banking system of either the US or the EU," he said.
Such calls for an independent payment system are growing within the BRICS.
Marco Fernandes, a Brazil researcher at the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, also called on the BRICS to focus on creating an alternative to the US dollar's hegemony in global transactions at a conference at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of the Renmin University of China on Tuesday.
"After confiscating tens of billions of dollars in reserves and assets from countries like Iran, Venezuela and Afghanistan, the seizure by the US and the EU of more than $300 billion of Russia's reserves, triggered a global alert, reaffirming the urgency of alternatives to the dollar's dominance," Fernandes said.
Analysts noted that the US' increasing use of the dollar as a political weapon in recent years - through sanctions or conditional loans - prompts countries to seek other currencies for commercial transactions and in the composition of their foreign reserves.
To shrug off pressure from the US to join in its sanctions against Russia, India was exploring the possibility of using the Chinese yuan as a reference currency in an India-Russia payment settlement mechanism for its oil trade with Russia, Indian news outlet Livemint reported in May.
In addition, former Kremlin economic adviser Sergey Glazyev has proposed a new global financial system - via an association between the Eurasian Economic Union and China - that would be underpinned by digital currency and backed by a basket of new foreign currencies and natural resources of the member countries, according to website The Cradle, which mainly covers West Asian geopolitics.
Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, said that there are other bilateral or multilateral global settlement systems for cross-border financial services, including China's Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS).
The CIPS processed around 80 trillion yuan ($11.91 trillion) in 2021, up more than 75 percent year-on-year. According to data from SWIFT, the yuan retained its position as the fifth most active currency for global payments by value in April, with a share of 2.14 percent.
Cao suggested that BRICS members step up cooperation in investment and financing in major sectors such as strategic emerging industries and digital innovation in a bid to boost the use of local currencies in trade and investment settlement.
BRICS countries are an important driving force for regional and global economic and trade growth. Despite the prolonged impact of COVID-19, the total volume of trade in goods of BRICS countries reached nearly $8.55 trillion in 2021, up 33.4 percent year-on-year, official data showed.
The bloc accounts for 18 percent of trade in goods and 25 percent of foreign investment globally, statistics show.
"Along with the development of the mobile internet, digital payment has also become a tool for cross-border transactions. More opportunities are expected in this regard," Cao said.
BRICS is not an
anti-Western camp, nor is it a group to fight the West. The keywords of
this year's BRICS meeting are “development,” “cooperation,” “stability”
and “peace,” which aim to bring the world back on the right track.
BRICS is not an
anti-Western camp, nor is it a group to fight the West. The keywords of
this year's BRICS meeting are “development,” “cooperation,” “stability”
and “peace,” which aim to bring the world back on the right track.
It is important that we pursue development in real earnest and promote development in concert, build an open world economy, and shape a global governance system and institutional environment that are more just and equitable: Xi
These 5 super infrastructure projects in China shock the world!
More than 1,300 patients have recovered from Covid-19 with no side
effects after taking Paxlovid, says health minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
(Reuters pic)
PETALING JAYA: The antiviral drug Paxlovid will be available for free to Covid-19 patients at private health facilities, says the Health Minister.
Khairy Jamaluddin said the drug has been available at these facilities since Monday, and his ministry had distributed the circulars and guidelines on the expansion and use of the drug to private healthcare on June 16.
ALSO READ: Covid-19: Over 1,300 patients recovered after Paxlovid treatment, says KJ
“The provision of the drug to patients at private health facilities is free. However, patients are still subject to consultation charges and other related charges determined by the private health facility,” he added.
Paxlovid is the first oral antiviral drug available in Malaysia that treats Covid-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms or Categories 2 and 3.
Khairy said priority would be given to the high-risk group of Covid-19 patients.
ALSO READ: Covid-19: Over 1,300 patients recovered after Paxlovid treatment, says KJ
The use of the antiviral drug started in health facilities under the ministry on April 15.
Meanwhile, Khairy also said 107,844 individuals aged 12 and above had received their second Covid-19 booster jab as of Monday.
He added that 57,834 out of the total were individuals aged 60 and above.
ALSO READ: Covid-19: Health Ministry to prepare 3,000 courses of Paxlovid ahead of haj season
“We encourage senior citizens and individuals with chronic conditions to get the second booster. To date, we have not received any reports on severe side effects following the second booster shot,” he told a media conference after launching the ministry’s Hospital Directors Conference at a hotel here.
Covid-19 cases will fluctuate, and a potential new infection wave might emerge in the next few months, although the current situation is under control, said Khairy.
“Perhaps we can expect a new wave within the next two and three months, but the magnitude is still unknown.
“Based on epidemiological developments in other countries, a new wave could be ahead,” he added, encouraging high-risk individuals to be inoculated with the fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot.
ALSO READ: Covid-19: Paxlovid antiviral to be free, enough supply to treat 48,000 patients
Commenting on the rebooted immunisation programme for kids (PICKids), the minister said the decision was taken as the ministry found that there were children who had not received information on the previous immunisation programme.
“As PICKids was announced to be ending for those children above five years old, the ministry realised that there are pockets of the population which had not received information on Covid-19 vaccines.
“The ministry is now helping these groups get access to Covid-19 vaccination at its health clinics,” he added.
Khairy said that 397 kids were inoculated on the first day of the five-day campaign, of whom 150 had just turned five.
On Sunday, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali announced PICKids would reopen from Monday until Friday in conjunction with the 2022 National Immunisation Week.
Strengthening the offensive capability of nuclear weapons is the nub of China's strategic deterrence
It is far from enough for China to rely on ground-based anti-missile technologies to deter the US. China also needs to further strengthen its offensive capability of nuclear weapons, which is the nub of China's strategic deterrence.
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China-US nuclear rivalry and the discovery of China’s missile silos
An air-defense missile system attached to a brigade under the PLA 71st Group Army launches an air-defense missile at a mock target during a field live-fire training exercise in late February, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Xue Weigao)
China on Sunday successfully conducted an antiballistic missile test in a move experts said on Monday is a crucial part of the country's national defense development that is defensive in nature, demonstrating the reliability of China's antiballistic missile umbrella amid US attempts to blackmail China with modern, nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles and deploying intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the Asia-Pacific region on the doorsteps of China.
China conducted a land-based, mid-course antiballistic missile interception technical test within its borders, China's Ministry of National Defense announced in a press release late on Sunday.
The test reached its desired objective, the press release said, noting that the test is defensive in nature and not aimed at any other country.
A similar test was held in February 2021, according to an announcement of the Chinese Defense Ministry at the time.
The flight of an intercontinental ballistic missile usually consists of three phases. First is the boost phase in which the rocket booster powers the missile. Second, the mid-course phase in which the booster stops as the missile travels outside the atmosphere. Third and last, the reentry or terminal phase in which the missile reenters the atmosphere and dives on its target.
Intercepting an intercontinental ballistic missile during its mid-course is very challenging because during this phase, the missile, usually equipped with nuclear warheads, travels high outside of the atmosphere at very high velocity, experts said.
It is technically easy to intercept a ballistic missile in the boost phase because the missile is still close to the ground and accelerating, but it is difficult to get close to the launch site which is usually deep in hostile territory. In the terminal phase, the interception is also challenging because the speed of the diving missile is very high, analysts noted.
Countries are developing hypersonic missiles with wave-rider gliders that can adjust their trajectories mid-flight when they reenter the atmosphere, which makes terminal interception even more difficult, and mid-course interception has become even more important, analysts said.
A mid-course antiballistic missile system consists of two parts - a booster and an interceptor as its warhead, and moves to intercept the ballistic missile in the second phase of its flight where it is traveling outside the atmosphere, an expert familiar with the technology told the Global Times on the condition of anonymity.
One of the key challenges for a mid-course antiballistic missile system is the miniaturization of the warhead, making it light enough without compromising its flight precision as well as sensitivity, the expert said, adding that it is preferred to use a rapid combustion rocket as the booster for the system so that it can send the antiballistic missile to the atmosphere as fast as possible.
Although small in size, the mid-course antiballistic missile has a complete set of combat systems, including power, tracking, target-identifying systems and the killer part, the expert explained.
The mid-course antiballistic missile interception also has a network of support systems with an early warning and monitoring function. The centerpiece of the warning and monitoring systems is the missile early warning satellite, and support from long-range monitoring radars and a highly efficient and rapid command system are also playing crucial roles in the interception process, the expert said.
The latest test brings the number of publicly announced Chinese land-based ABM technical tests to six. According to media reports and official statements, other known ABM tests were carried out by China in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2021. It was not revealed in which interception phase the test in 2014 was carried out, while all other five were carried out in the mid-course phase. All of those Chinese tests ended successfully.
By comparison, the US Ground-based Midcourse Defense system only has a success rate of just 55 percent, according to the Washington DC-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
The high success rate of China's tests shows that the country's land-based mid-course antiballistic missile system has become mature and reliable, Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Monday.
For the next step, China needs to conduct tests under more complex scenarios to further hone its antiballistic missile capabilities, Wang said, noting that the US' lower success rate does not necessarily mean China has surpassed the US, because the US tests might involve different and more challenging simulation parameters.
US threats
Despite China's latest test does not target another country, analysts said that the US is the biggest source of ballistic missile threats to China.
The US Department of Defense is modernizing its intercontinental ballistic missile force with the $100 billion Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program in an attempt to deter China and Russia, US media outlet Defense News reported in April, when the US Air Force named its next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile the LGM-35A Sentinel, which is to succeed the 5-decade-old Minuteman III beginning 2029.
Having a reliable antiballistic missile system serves as a deterrent against US nuclear blackmail, experts said.
After withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, the US began planning an anti-China missile network along the first island chain, media reported.
Fears are that the US could deploy intermediate range missiles in places like Japan, South Korea, Guam and Australia, despite Japan, South Korea and Australia ruling out this US proposal for the time being, according to media reports. As the Western missile network is pressing in on the Asia-Pacific region, China needs to develop antiballistic missile systems as well as far-reaching weapons like aircraft carriers and hypersonic missiles to defend itself, analysts said.
If the US succeeds in deploying intermediate range missiles near China, it means China will face not only more missile threats, but also more uncertainties. If US missiles are deployed in multiple locations along the island chains, it would be more difficult to predict from where those missiles could come from, Wang said.
That is why China needs both spear and shield, Wang pointed out.
When needed, China should be able to use its long-range strike capabilities and destroy those missile positions, and use missile defense systems to intercept those that have made into the air, Wang said.
China just launched its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, on Friday, and showcased its DF-17 hypersonic missiles at the National Day military parade in 2019. If US missiles are deployed on China's doorsteps, they are likely targets of those Chinese weapons if they aim at China, analysts said.
China already has a military advantage over the US on the doorsteps of China, and further national defense development is needed to deter the US and lower casualties in case of a conflict, analysts said.
China follows a national defense strategy that is defensive in nature, so both the spears and the shields it develops are aimed at safeguarding its national sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests, as well as contribute to regional stability and world peace, analysts said, noting that this is totally different from the US' aggressive military development that aims to maintain global hegemony.
