Govt issues work-from-home orders for CMCO areas and other news you may have missed

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

1. The government has ordered public and private sector workers in management and supervisory roles in areas under the conditional movement control (CMCO) order to work from home, starting tomorrow. The International Trade and Industry Ministry is expected to announce details today.

2. Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he does not know when the CMCO in Sabah and Klang Valley will end, while Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said whether the restrictions in the Klang Valley will be extended depends on the Covid-19 infectivity in the coming week.

3. Noor Hisham said the Utama cluster has spread to its sixth generation of patients, but the 1Utama shopping complex at the epicentre of the outbreak is now clear of the virus.

4. Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has expressed disappointment in politicians’ constant politicking instead of helping the people, in support of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s call for politicians not to plunge the country into another round of political uncertainty.

5. Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister James Masing said the Covid-19 pandemic would not stop the state from holding its state election, while across the border in Sabah, Parti Bersatu Sabah joins the growing list of political parties planning to sit out of the Batu Sapi by-election.

6. Umno and PAS issued a joint statement saying that Muafakat Nasional will soon be formalised as an organisation, but made no mention of Bersatu, which had asked to join the coalition. PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said a Muafakat meeting on Monday was postponed to “reduce the political heat” and focus on Covid-19.

7. Sabah has a backlog of more than 10,000 samples waiting for Covid-19 testing, and Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Masidi Manjun said private laboratories are being roped in to help in the hope that this will help clear the backlog in a few days.

8. DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh baulked at a proposal for Langkawi MP Dr Mahathir Mohamad to become prime minister for the third time, and expressed regret for having worked with him under Pakatan Harapan.

9. FGV Holdings Bhd has opposed the Federal Land Development Agency's plan take back its land, saying the agency’s financial woes are not due to FGV’s 2012 IPO but how money raised through the IPO was utilised.

10. Wangsa Maju MP Tan Yee Kew has initiated a class action suit against the authorities for water disruptions affecting her constituents.