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Hi everyone! I'm Lee Xin Yee from Malaysia, a high school teenage girl.  Through this padlet, I would like to share some information about covid-19 frontliners and express my gratitude towards their sacrifice.  Thank you.

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Malaysia detected  first three COVID-19 cases on Jan 25, 2020 - three Chinese nationals from Wuhan who entered the country from Singapore.

The first wave of infections in Malaysia, from Jan 25 to Feb 15 last year, encompassed 22 cases. It was dealt with fairly quickly, through immediate isolation of the patients and treatment.

A major challenge came in the form of a mass religious gathering which was held at the Sri Petaling mosque near Kuala Lumpur from Feb 27 to Mar 1.

The event, attended by 16,000 people, eventually triggered a wave of COVID-19 infections across the country and formed what was dubbed the tabligh cluster. The attendees who contracted the virus during the event brought it back home to their respective states, resulting in a spike in infections nationwide.

The government then imposed a lockdown dubbed movement control order in mid-March, closing its borders and banning interstate travel.

Credit : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/timeline-how-covid-19-pandemic-has-unfolded-malaysia-january-2020-2082081

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's COVID-19 cases crossed the 1 million mark on Jul 25.

As cases rose, the country repeatedly reported single-day records of new infections and fatalities.

Since the movement control order (MCO) was first imposed in March 2020, Malaysians have been through different phases of lockdown as the government grappled with the spread of COVID-19.

Here's a recap of how the outbreak has evolved in the country so far:

2020: FIRST CASES EMERGE, MCO 1.0 CURBS TRANSMISSION

Malaysia detected its first three COVID-19 cases on Jan 25, 2020 - three Chinese nationals from Wuhan who entered the country from Singapore.

The first wave of infections in Malaysia, from Jan 25 to Feb 15 last year, encompassed 22 cases. It was dealt with fairly quickly, through immediate isolation of the patients and treatment.

A major challenge came in the form of a mass religious gathering which was held at the Sri Petaling mosque near Kuala Lumpur from Feb 27 to Mar 1.

The event, attended by 16,000 people, eventually triggered a wave of COVID-19 infections across the country and formed what was dubbed the tabligh cluster. The attendees who contracted the virus during the event brought it back home to their respective states, resulting in a spike in infections nationwide.

The Perikatan Nasional government, which had just taken over federal administration from Pakatan Harapan, then imposed a lockdown dubbed movement control order in mid-March, closing its borders and banning interstate travel.

The move to act quickly and restrict people's movement with strict protocols were key in halting the spread of infections.

Daily number of cases sank to single-digit figures in July and August. On Jul 1, Malaysia recorded zero local transmission for the first time since March. By the end of August, Malaysia had less than 10,000 cumulative cases, one of the lowest in the region.

But the third wave started in September through the Sabah state election. After the state polls, cases spiked and eventually hovered at four-digit figures daily.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin acknowledged that in spite of strict health protocols set by the Election Commission, compliance was very weak.

He noted that the number of cumulative cases in Sabah, which was 808 on nomination day on Sept 12, jumped by 91.5 per cent to 1,547 cases on polling day on Sept 26.

One month later on Oct 24, Sabah's cumulative cases were 11,285.

Over at the peninsula, clusters also started forming among workplaces and dormitories of foreign migrant workers in the Klang Valley.

Glove maker Top Glove made global headlines after the Malaysian government announced that it opened 19 investigation papers into six subsidiaries of the company over offences involving workers' dormitories.

2021: STATE OF EMERGENCY, MCO 2.0

The spike in infections across the country led Mr Muhyiddin to seek a state of emergency to be imposed in the country.

On Jan 12, with the national tally surpassing 138,000 and the healthcare system said to be at a breaking point, Malaysia's king proclaimed a state of emergency until Aug 1.

During the period, the parliament and state legislative assemblies would not sit until a time decided by the king. No elections were allowed to be held.

In a renewed effort to combat the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases, the government announced that all states, except for Sarawak, would be placed under MCO.

Unlike the first MCO which was implemented in March 2020, the restrictions imposed under MCO 2.0 were seen as being more lenient.

MCO 2.0 saw more economic sectors allowed to continue functioning, such as the automotive sector and retailers like gold and jewellery shops. Residents could also dine in at restaurants and visit night markets.

VACCINATION DRIVE KICKS OFF

In February, Malaysia kicked off the national COVID-19 immunisation programme, with Mr Muhyiddin, Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah and other medical frontliners being the first to receive doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Malaysia's COVID-19 immunisation programme was divided into three phrases, beginning with medical and non-medical frontliners from February to April.

The government said Malaysia aimed to achieve herd immunity by having 80 per cent of its 32 million population vaccinated at the end of the year, or by February 2022 at the latest.

Even with MCO 2.0 in place, the number of cases continued to surge, reaching an all-time high of 5,728 daily on Jan 30.

The daily number later dipped, and Malaysia recorded 2,176 cases on Feb 15, the lowest tally for more than a month.

Soon after, Malaysia announced that it would ease COVID-19 restrictions across the country.

NATIONWIDE MCO AGAIN

During the holy month of Ramadan, the government had initially allowed hotels, restaurants and eateries to hold buffets for the breaking of fast, with strict compliance to the standard operating procedures.

Ramadan bazaars were also allowed to operate in most areas of the country.

But when the number of daily cases increased rapidly, the government announced that six Selangor districts, Kuala Lumpur and three districts in Johor were placed under MCO again about a week leading up to Hari Raya Aidilfitri,

This meant that dining in were no longer allowed at restaurants, Ramadan bazaars were closed and interstate travel remained barred.

On May 10, the government announced another nationwide MCO from May 12 until Jun 7, in what Mr Muhyiddin described as a "drastic move to prevent the country from slipping into a severe health catastrophe".

The government had decided to take stricter steps to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the community and to prevent cases from rising sharply.

"Data and science continued to show that assembly activities that made social distancing difficult and the presence of people in congested spaces are major causes of COVID-19 transmission," he said.

Under MCO 3.0, all forms of social gatherings including weddings, house visits and banquets were prohibited. However, all economic sectors were allowed to operate during the period.

TOTAL LOCKDOWN

With the number of cases continuing to surge and pressure from opposition politicians as well as netizens to act, Mr Muhyiddin announced that a "total lockdown" would be implemented across the country, closing all economic and social sectors.

The first phase of the lockdown was scheduled to last from Jun 1 to Jun 14. Only essential economic and service sectors listed by the National Security Council would be allowed to operate during phase 1 of the lockdown.

He also unveiled a four-phase National Recovery Plan, charting Malaysia's journey out of the pandemic.

He described the current lockdown as the first phase of the exit plan, and outlined that vaccination rate, daily cases and the public healthcare system's capacity are the key thresholds in determining the transition.

However, as daily case numbers still exceeded 5,000, the lockdown was extended for two weeks from Jun 15 until Jun 28.

By end-June, Mr Muhyiddin confirmed that phase 1 would be further extended until daily cases fell below 4,000.

SITUATION WORSENS IN KLANG VALLEY

In early July, Mr Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was then senior minister for defence, announced that five Malaysian states would transition into phase 2 of the national recovery plan. These states were Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, Pahang and Perlis.

Finance minister Tengku Zakrul Tengku Abdul Aziz explained that parameters for transitioning into the various phases of the national-level recovery plan would now be applied at the state level.

This, he said, would allow individual states to transition earlier, as their local numbers had already shown great improvement, rather than wait for the national average to be attained, which might take longer.

Meanwhile, the situation in populous Klang Valley worsened. As nationwide infections persisted above 5,000 daily, more than half of these were frequently contributed by cases in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

This led the Malaysian government to implement an enhanced movement control order (EMCO) in many parts of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur for a period of 14 days from Jul 3 to Jul 16.

EMCO restrictions meant that residents living in these areas cannot leave home after 8pm, while only one person per household is allowed to run errands.

Only residents who work in essential services, or part of official government duty with appropriate documentation, were allowed to travel to work.

Moreover, only factories manufacturing food and daily essential items, including rice, bread, sugar, oil, milk and medication were allowed to operate while all restaurants, food courts, shops and street vendors could only open from 8am to 8pm.

The government emphasised that these measures were necessary taking into account the population density of these areas and the fast spread of the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants.

The EMCO curbs were later lifted ahead of schedule for Kuala Lumpur and as scheduled for Selangor, despite the fact that these areas remained the epicentre of the latest wave of infections.

Malaysia's 2021 key COVID-19 milestones at a glance

Jan 12: King proclaims state of emergency

Feb 24: National immunisation programme kicks off

Mar 29: Daily new infections fall below 1,000 for the first time in 2021

May 10: Movement control order is announced for the whole country

May 22: Total COVID-19 cases breaches 500,000-mark

Jun 1: First phase of total lockdown begins

Jun 28: Total deaths crosses 5,000-mark

Jul 5: Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, Pahang and Perlis enter phase two of national recovery plan

Jul 25: Total COVID-19 cases surpasses 1 million

Jul 26: Parliament meets for the first time in 2021

Aug 1: State of emergency ends

Aug 4: Perlis, Sarawak and Labuan enter phase three of national recovery plan

PARLIAMENT RECONVENES ON JUL 26

In spite of the measures in the Klang Valley, widespread testing has unveiled a high volume of COVID-19 cases.

Daily caseload reached five figures for the first time on Jul 13 with 11,079 new infections, and more than half of the new cases were detected in the Klang Valley.

Following the king's decree, the House of Representatives met for the first time in 2021.

During the special parliamentary meeting from Jul 26, the prime minister and other ministers briefed the MPs on the country's COVID-19 response.

In his presentation, Mr Muhyiddin said most Malaysian states are likely to move into phase four or the final phase of the country's COVID-19 exit strategy by October at the earliest.

Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, coordinating minister for the immunisation programme, said 25.2 per cent of the adult population are fully vaccinated as of Jul 27.

The meeting was supposed to last for five days, but was cut short to four days after COVID-19 cases were detected in the parliament.

The state of emergency has ended on Aug 1 as scheduled. The motion to debate and annul the emergency ordinances would be tabled in the parliament in September, following different interpretations over the king's role in the process.

On Aug 4, Malaysia hit another record high for new COVID-19 cases with 19,819 infections, taking the national total to 1,183,110.

Daily fatalities also hit a new high at 257 on the same day. There have been more than 9,800 deaths so far.

Daily infections continued to set new records for two more days. On Aug 6, Malaysia reported 20,889 new COVID-19 cases.

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Timeline: How the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded in Malaysia since January 2020

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After more than 18 months since Malaysia saw its first coronavirus case, the caseload has stayed high in many areas while lockdowns have been extended repeatedly. CNA looks at some of the milestones.

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Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah's Press Conference on Covid-19 Situation

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Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah's Press Conference on Covid-19 Situation

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[LIVE] Press conference by Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah

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In February 2021, Malaysia kicked off the national COVID-19 immunisation programme, with Prime Minister Mr Muhyiddin, Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah and other medical frontliners being the first to receive doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Malaysia's COVID-19 immunisation programme was divided into three phrases, beginning with medical and non-medical frontliners from February to April 2021.

The government said Malaysia aimed to achieve herd immunity by having 80 per cent of its 32 million population vaccinated at the end of the year, or by February 2022 at the latest.

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Malaysia MySejahtera Application in Managing Covid-19 Outbreak

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Malaysia MySejahtera Application in Managing Covid-19 Outbreak

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MySejahtera is an application developed by the Government of Malaysia to assist in managing the COVID-19 outbreaks in the country. It allows users to perform health self-assessment on themselves and their families. The users can also monitor their health progress throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, MySejahtera enables Ministry of Health (MOH) to monitor users' health condition and take immediate actions in providing the treatments required.

MySejahtera application is developed to:

Assists the Government in managing and mitigating the   COVID-19 outbreak

Helps users in monitoring their health throughout the COVID-19 outbreak

Assists users in getting treatment if they are infected with COVID-19

Locates nearest hospitals and clinics for COVID-19 screening and treatment.

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Corona Virus Hero Dr. Noor Hisham bin Abdullah

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Corona Virus Hero Dr. Noor Hisham bin Abdullah

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[Wikipedia]
Dr. Noor Hisham bin Abdullah  is a Malaysian civil servant and endocrine surgeon who has served as the Director-General of Health since March 2013. He has served as the Deputy Director General of Health (Medical) from February 2008 until his promotion to director-general position in March 2013.

He is also the current President of Malaysia Medical Council (MMC), as well as a Board of Directors of the Drug for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). In his role, he has been prominent in leading Malaysia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Noor Hisham is the director-general in charge during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. Noor Hisham gave press briefings everyday regarding the current situation of covid-19 in the country. Noor Hisham's briefings were praised for their calm and clarity during the crisis.

In April 2020, he was picked to join an international coalition dedicated to clinical research involving COVID-19. The China Global TV Network (CGTN), had recognised Dr Noor Hisham as among the “top doctors” of the world alongside America's Dr Anthony Fauci and New Zealand's Dr Ashley Bloomfield for the handling of COVID-19 pandemic approach. He also was named again among the COVID-19 heroic trio by Singaporean news outlet, The Independent.

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Let's do our part to prevent the outbreak of Covid-19!

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Let's do our part to prevent the outbreak of Covid-19!

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Wear a face mask in public indoor spaces.

Maintain at least six feet of distance between yourself and others.

Avoid large gatherings.

Socialize outdoors.

Get vaccinated and boosted as soon as you are eligible.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Minimize touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

Stay home when you are sick.

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

Clean frequently touched objects and surfaces regularly.

Wash your hands often with soap and water.

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We have been shrouded in misery since the outbreak of COVID-19. The number of confirmed cases has made people panic. None of us knows the end date of this pandemic. The frontliners risk their lives and work day and night to protect the people and the country. In order to pay tribute to the frontliners, D'Alphalegacy Sdn Bhd produced the film "Frontliner" and this movie is directed by Razif Rashid. The film will be released on Netflix on September 30.

This film will not only film the pandemic situation, but it also presents the frictions and contradictions faced by frontliners and their family members. In order to learn more about the lives of frontliners, the film production team interviewed the relatives and friends of some frontliners.

"Frontliner" is starred by Azhan Rani, Beto Khusyairi, Farah Ahmad, Emma Meambong. Azhan. They played the role of doctors in the movie and all of them were wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) for shooting. After completing the shooting process, they all agreed that all frontliners are having heavy and dangerous responsibilities.

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Doctors, nurses, first responders, policemen, ambulance and hearse drivers, gravediggers — these are among the frontline workers in the battle against Covid-19.

There are others, too, like the food delivery drivers and riders, pharmacists, grocery store employers and their staff — they give us some semblance of normalcy in our lives, keep our community safe and the world running.

Malaysia has some 500,000 frontliners, 245,995 of whom are health frontliners. Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah says the health frontliners have been fully vaccinated.Figures are not yet forthcoming of the frontliners who've tragically died due to the coronavirus.

Since March, the unrelenting surge in Covid-19 cases has been "absolutely soul crushing" for frontliners, a private medical practitioner described recently. He claimed Malaysia's situation now is very much like Italy last year, where the public healthcare system is almost overwhelmed — hospitals are overcrowded, with not enough beds, ventilators and oxygen supplies.

Every other day, they are faced with deaths, as the number of Covid-19 fatalities rises. It was reported recently that since January, hundreds of doctors and nurses have resigned, or requested time off due to fatigue. This is bad news and an added burden on other frontliners. We need more Good Samaritans to help us get thorough these dark days.

There is an initiative by the Mental and Psychosocial Health Support Services Unit of the Selangor Health Department to enhance the emotional wellbeing of frontliners.

Words of encouragement are written on a card to be given to frontliners at the Integrated Quarantine and Treatment Centre at the Malaysia Agro Expo Park Serdang, in conjunction with this year's Merdeka month celebration.

The card, along with a pill-shaped pen, will then be tied on the door handle of vehicles or the side mirror of motorcycles belonging to frontliners. There should be more of such initiatives and campaigns to show our appreciation for their sacrifice.

Across the world many communities are doing a daily salute to frontliners by lighting candles, applauding, cheering, howling or sounding horns at a certain time of day. Scroll social media, there are group posts on Facebook and Instagram thanking frontliners for a job well done.

There are many ways to thank our frontliners — donate a meal to hospitals, vaccination and quarantine centres, post greeting cards to make their day or share a simple message on social media about how we value them.

The most important thing one can do, is to stay home and venture out only when necessary. This way, we limit the spread of Covid-19. Let's salute our frontliners and offer a daily prayer for them. They need our moral support and encouragement now, more than ever, to sustain their focus on the job at hand.

Credit: https://api.nst.com.my/opinion/leaders/2021/08/717196/nst-leader-salute-our-frontliners#:~:text=Malaysia%20has%20some%20500%2C000%20frontliners%2C%20245%2C995%20of%20whom,frontliners%20who%27ve%20tragically%20died%20due%20to%20the%20coronavirus.