Exco: Covid cases in Selangor on the decline
As of epidemiological week 19, cumulative cases for 2025 stand at 3,807. This is a sharp drop from 14,542 cases recorded during the same period last year.
In a statement today, State Public Health and Environment Committee chairman Jamaliah Jamaluddin said weekly cases had stayed below 100 since Week 12 or mid-March, with consistent downward trends.
She credited the state government's preventive efforts, cooperation with the Selangor Health Department (JKNS) and strong public compliance for helping keep infections low, even as neighbouring countries report renewed surges.
Jamaliah urged continued caution, especially for high-risk groups such as older people and those with chronic conditions.
She said state authorities would keep monitoring the situation and ensure that the public health system remains on standby.
Her remarks came a day after Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the national government was watching regional developments closely, following rising case numbers in Thailand and Singapore. – BERNAMA
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
13 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Pfizer, BioNTech lose UK appeal to Moderna in Covid-19 vaccine patent fight
LONDON: US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German firm BioNTech lost Friday a court appeal in the latest step of a multi-million pound battle against US rival Moderna over the Covid-19 vaccine. The Appeals Court in London upheld an earlier UK court decision in the long-running battle between the global pharma firms. It found that one of the European patents held by Moderna was invalid, but that a second one had been broken by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. "The judge made no error of law or principle" in the ruling handed down in July 2024, the Appeal Court judges wrote Friday, dismissing the appeal brought by the two companies. Pfizer quickly said it will appeal Friday's ruling to Britain's Supreme Court. "Today's UK Court of Appeal's decision does not change our unwavering stance that this patent is invalid," Pfizer said in a statement. "This decision has no immediate impact on Pfizer and BioNTech." Pfizer and BioNTech had argued that both the patents cited by Moderna were invalid, and neither had been infringed. Friday's decision could have wide implications for other cases involving the huge pharma companies in the United States, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland. Moderna said in a statement it was pleased with Friday's ruling and would "continue to pursue and enforce its patent rights globally to protect its innovative mRNA technology." A UK court was told last year the firms had spent £19 million (US$25 million) fighting their legal battles. In 2020, Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine became the first ever mRNA vaccine approved for widespread use, and was swiftly deployed to combat the Covid pandemic. Scientists believe mRNA vaccines, which provoke an immune response by delivering genetic molecules containing the code for key parts of a pathogen into human cells, could be a game-changer against many diseases. Traditional vaccines contain some form of the dead or inactivated target virus. Since the virus need not be grown in the lab, mRNA vaccines can in theory be developed at scale more quickly than traditional vaccines. In March, a German court in Duesseldorf also found Pfizer and BioNTech had violated a Moderna patent filed between 2010 to 2016 to make their vaccines. It ordered they must provide estimates of how much they had profited from breaking the patent as well as provide "appropriate compensation."--AFP
The Star
17 hours ago
- The Star
Tiny terror meets its match
Major pest: Aedes mosquitoes are the primary vectors of chikungunya.— AFP Scientists battling the country's largest chikungunya epidemic are releasing swarms of giant cannibal mosquitoes whose larvae devour the smaller insects spreading the debilitating disease. These so-called 'elephant mosquitoes', measuring nearly 2cm in length, are voracious predators. Public health experts hope these unusual allies will become unlikely heroes in stopping the painful, fast-moving virus in the southern province of Guangdong. With more than 6,000 infections reported in just three weeks in Foshan alone, authorities are also reviving familiar tactics from the Covid-19 playbook, including mass polymerase chain reaction testing, isolation of infected residents and neighbourhood-wide disinfection campaigns. Yet it's the unconventional methods – giant mosquitoes – that underscore the desperation of officials confronting an unprecedented outbreak. The larvae of these so-called elephant mosquitoes, also known as Toxorhynchites splendens, is released by a research team from Sun Yat-sen University's Zhongshan School of Medicine in Guangdong. They don't bite humans but prey on Aedes mosquitoes – the primary vectors of chikungunya, dengue, Zika and yellow fever. Foshan, a sprawling city in central Guangdong, is deploying another tool: a local variety of fish that eats mosquito eggs and larvae. More than 5,000 of the fish have been released into city ponds and rivers. The city has designated 53 hospitals for chikungunya treatment, offering more than 3,600 beds equipped with mosquito nets and plans to expand capacity, according to state broadcaster CCTV. In nearby Guangzhou, officials published a risk map of all 120 communities and launched a week-long campaign involving mosquito spraying twice a day. One larva of the elephant mosquito can consume up to 100 Aedes, according to Zhang Dongjing, associate professor and technical director of a 'mosquito factory' linked to Sun Yat-sen University. — Bloomberg
The Star
18 hours ago
- The Star
Using AI play for early growth
Game changer uses technology to tackle development issues in children PETALING JAYA: As a child, Tokyo-born Shun Matsuzaka had boundless love for learning, but that passion rarely reflected in his grades, as he struggled to achieve good results. It wasn't until he was 19, during his foundation year at a university in the United Kingdom, that he was diagnosed with dyslexia. This changed not just his life but also shaped his ambition to help other children going through what he had to go through. Having moved to Malaysia in 2017, Matsuzaka, along with his partner Masaki Ishibashi, founded TOY8 in 2018, a social impact venture designed to unlock every child's potential through play and data. Together, they planned to establish an AI-powered playground in 2020 in a 45,000sq ft (4,180sq m) space at a mall in Kuala Lumpur. Filled with motion sensors and cameras, the playground would allow them to observe children's play and extract insights into their cognitive and motor strengths, which would then be explained to the parents if any issues were found. Sadly, the plan was derailed even before it could take off following the Covid-19 pandemic. TOY8 co-founder Matsuzaka. Defeated but not beaten, Matsuzaka was then inspired by a letter he received from the Tokyo city office – an invitation for his daughter to attend a mandatory three-year-old developmental screening. 'It was then I realised that while this was standard practice in Japan, Malaysia had no equivalent system for those aged between three and six – a gap in the most crucial window of brain development. 'Most parents had no structured way to know whether their child's development was on track or not and this gap, between the need for early detection and the absence of reliable access, became our new focus,' he said. Matsuzaka and his team then developed the first AI-powered, gamified screening and intervention system in Malaysia in 2022 in collaboration with Sunway University, Universiti Malaya, the Health Ministry Clinical Research Centre and a former Nintendo game director. The system utilised smartphone-based games to screen five core domains of development – language, cognition, fine and gross motor skills and social-emotional abilities. 'These games are intentionally designed to be exciting, intuitive and culturally relevant, enabling teachers in preschools and kindergartens to conduct reliable developmental checks during classroom time without requiring clinical expertise. 'If a child is flagged for mild or moderate developmental support needs, they can be supported through the TOY8 intervention programme, which offers over 3,000 plus fun game activities personalised to the child's profile. 'These interventions can then be delivered at school or home with the guidance of trained educators or caregivers,' Matsuzaka said. Matsuzaka also said TOY8's system empowers teachers with technology, not only to screen and support children but also to actively participate in the reduction of developmental inequality. 'Instead of relying solely on overburdened specialists, we shifted part of the responsibility to well-equipped preschool classrooms, ensuring that more children are identified early and supported effectively during the brain's most critical years of development.' Since its inception, TOY8 has screened over 15,000 children across Malaysia and other Asean countries with Sarawak becoming one of the first Malaysian states to adopt the model at scale in 2023. By integrating digital screening into its public preschools, the state now stands as a beacon of inclusive early education, not just in Malaysia but for the entire Asean region. 'By the end of the year, our programme in Sarawak will expand to screen 600 children, supported by a growing network of trained educators and interventionists. 'We are now hoping to present the Sarawak model as a regional policy proposal at the 2025 Asean Business Summit under the Inclusive Education 2.0 framework, as well as expand our reach to other Asean countries,' he added. Meanwhile, the Star Golden Hearts Award (SGHA) returns for the 11th edition to honour everyday Malaysians whose compassion and selflessness have made a lasting impact on others. With McDonald's Malaysia as the new strategic partner, SGHA is poised to broaden its reach and deepen its impact nationwide. This year also marks the debut of the McDonald's Caring Hearts Award – a special recognition honouring individuals or grassroots groups whose heartfelt acts of kindness have uplifted lives in profound and lasting ways. Since its inception in 2015, SGHA has honoured over 100 individuals and organisations whose efforts have inspired action, transformed lives and strengthened communities nationwide.
