M'sia in renewed battle against Covid-19 and other news you may have missed

KINI ROUNDUP | Here are key headlines you may have missed, in brief.

1. Malaysia has come to a new low in the battle against Covid-19, with the number of active cases hitting 2,936. Four deaths have been recorded, including a one-year-old girl who became the nation’s youngest casualty.

2. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin assured that Malaysia is better prepared to tackle the pandemic than ever. There will be no nationwide lockdowns, though schools may be closed.

3. Muhyiddin also gave his assurance that there is no double-standard amid public anger against politicians who were infected with Covid-19 while campaigning in Sabah, but netizens took issue with his lack of an apology and poor taste in his “rotan” reference.

4. The Health Ministry has set up makeshift hospitals in six districts in Sabah to brace for the surge in Covid-19 cases, while the Prison Department will release some inmates and transfer others to temporary prisons in a bit to relieve overcrowding.

5. The aides to Azmin Ali and Hamzah Zainudin denied rumours the duo had tested positive for Covid-19, while Maharani assemblyperson Nor Hayati Bachok confirmed she has contracted the disease.

6. Sabah’s state borders will be closed to non-Sabahans from Oct 12, except to those providing essential services students, and civil servants, while the Catholic Church has suspended masses in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

7. Glove manufacturer Top Glove has raised its remediation payments to migrant workers to RM20,000 each in a bid to resolve an import ban by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

8. Lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and two others have successfully fended off a bid by the widow of private investigator P Balasubramaniam to initiate contempt of court proceedings against them.

9. Rosmah Mansor’s defence team at her corruption trial claimed that she was a victim of selective and malicious prosecution.

10. Former primary industries minister Teresa Kok said the ban on palm oil and palm products of FGV Holdings by the CBP is based on “old issues” and urged them to send a fact-finding mission to Malaysia.