After being confirmed positive on May 2, Mohd Izuan Rosmi’s ordeal included induced coma for 22 days at the Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit (Covid-19 ICU) at Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) in Johor Baru. However, his blood oxygen level dropped on the second day and he was transferred to HSA on May 5, and subsequently admitted to the ICU. But his condition deteriorated the next day and Mohd Izuan had high fever, sudden increase in heart rate and viral infections. Mohd Izuan underwent surgery on June 1, where a tracheostomy tube was affixed at his neck to allow air to enter the lungs. Mohd Izuan, who has never suffered from any serious illnesses, saw his weight dip from 70kg to 55kg.

MELAKA: Reza Hamid is among the early birds applying for the Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) i-Citra withdrawal for contributors below 55. The 40-year-old said he applied for the withdrawal as soon as it was opened on Monday, three days earlier than scheduled. Hotel general manager Jason Bak said he decided to apply for the i-Citra withdrawal to ease his burden in supporting his family after the hospitality industry was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In Johor Baru, storekeeper Ibnu Azim Azmi, 30, said he was thankful for the government’s move to allow withdrawal from EPF. For more information, EPF members can refer to the retirement fund’s official communication channel at www.kwsp.gov.my or call the i-Citra hotline at 03-8922 4848.

England trio Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who missed their spot kicks in the shootout, were targeted online in the wake of England's defeat. Bolt, who won the 100m and 200m double at three consecutive Olympics from 2008 to 2016, described the racial abuse directed at the players as horrifying. “First of all that’s horrible to know... for me it’s very tough to see these things. The English Football Association in a statement said it was "appalled" by the abuse of the three players. "We will do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible," the FA statement said.

Fake news is an illegitimate tool to boost advertising or advance a political or economic agenda. These days, the platforms used to disseminate such news are social media and the dark web. And so, if the “news” that you received was from social media, counter-check it with the traditional media. Many believe that trying to stop the spread of fake news by legislation is not the way to go. If we follow our self-imposed and self-regulated standard operating procedure, we will be able to dump fake news where it belongs – in the garbage bin.

PUTRAJAYA (July 13): The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has held a public consultation session on the new courier services licensing framework in an effort to improve the country’s postal and courier industry. MCMC said in a statement today that the public consultation on July 5 was to obtain views and feedback from interested parties and stakeholders regarding the proposed new courier service licensing framework. It said there were 13 questions in the public consultation document to obtain respondents’ feedback, including guiding principles for the new courier service licensing framework, proposed new licensing structure, suggestions for standard and special license conditions, models for new licensing fees and migration and mapping processes. The public consultation document can be obtained at https://www.mcmc.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/MCMC_Licensing_Frame... and the deadline for submission of feedback is noon on July 30. Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah was also reported to have said on June 3 that PAKEJ would see more independent collection and delivery centres in an effort to improve postal and courier services, thus creating a first-class service for Malaysian consumers.

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 67 factories, business premises and construction sites have been ordered to close for failure to adhere to Covid-19 standard operating procedures, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. He said this came after the SOP compliance operations task force conducted 90,214 inspections nationwide on Monday (July 12). "It includes checks on 2,285 factories, 16,822 business premises, 1,015 construction sites and 456 workers' hostels. "As mentioned previously, the government has stepped up total enforcement in terms of inspections on factories and business premises. It must be done as there have been too many SOP violations at such premises," he said in a statement on Tuesday (July 13).

Since he was “thrown into the deep end of cycling” nine years ago, Albertt Leong, 52, has become and advocate for the sport that he says is a good activity for the whole family. Before the pandemic, Albertt Leong would often go cycling with his buddies.Photo: Albertt LeongThe event started him on his journey into the world of cycling. In 2014, he took up the challenge of organising his first cycling event. Aerial view of The Lekas Highway Night Ride 2016, the first large-scale cycling event that Albertt Leong's company organised. Leong says that cycling associations from South East Asia and China have contacted him, and he hopes to collaborate with them to do two-way cycling tourism between their countries and Malaysia.

JOHOR BARU: A family here is appealing for public assistance after their patriarch went missing three weeks ago after going out for a walk at their apartment in Kuala Lumpur. Koh Soh Chin, 48, said that her father-in-law, Lai Heng Chong, 84, was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and his condition deteriorated since the movement control order started. She added that the family allowed Lai to go for his walk, and she had handed him an umbrella as it was raining. Koh also said that her neighbour, who works as an e-hailing driver, offered to help search for Lai, and even alerted other e-hailing drivers around Cheras and Pandan Jaya. Meanwhile, Chua urged for help from the public and said those with information can contact him via the MCA Facebook page or his personal Facebook page (Chua Jian Boon).

"I woke my mother who was in another room and we went downstairs where my husband introduced me to Lim. However, it was not revealed in her witness statement exactly when Lim was at the house. About 30 minutes later, her husband told her and her mother to leave as he wanted to discuss matters privately with Zarul and Lim. When his turn came to cross-examine the witness, Gobind asked if Geethanjali met politicians often and if it was common to take pictures with them. Lim was charged with committing the offence near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City here in March 2011, between 12.30am and 2am.

The struggle with gender equality is particularly pronounced in Shtip, an hour's drive from the capital Skopje, which was a stronghold of the garment industry in Yugoslav times and remains so today. "If you don't have political connections, the garment industry is the only job open for you in Shtip, " says Ampeva. Minimum wage battleAmpeva says her NGO has filed more than 1, 000 complaints in five years, and helped thousands of workers. She is also proud of the NGO's role in overhauling the minimum wage law, which had made textile workers' wages conditional on reaching a production quota. Angel Dimitrov, a garment industry manager who heads the country's organisation of employers, insists the bad old days are gone.

PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali has thanked those who had sent well wishes on her 95th birthday. Dr Siti Hasmah, who is the wife of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, thanked all her friends and family members who have sent their birthday wishes to her. She also thanked them for their prayers for long life and good health. “God is the only one that determines our age, and every morning when I get up I give thanks during my morning prayers,” she said in a Facebook video posted on Dr Mahathir’s Facebook page on Tuesday (July 13). Dr Siti Hasmah also apologised to everyone for her inability to respond to each birthday message.

Fungus is commonly found in our environment and mostly seen in the soil in many parts of the world in various forms. Recently, a particular fungus called the black fungus has hit the news due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To the naked eye, its manifestation looks black, hence why it is commonly known as black fungus. There has been a surge of reported cases in India, particularly during the country’s current wave of Covid-19 cases. The numbers currently being seen in India are worrying and the potential to have an increase in black fungus cases in Malaysia is possible.

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Tourism Board (STB) has kicked off its "Enchanting Sabah Live" series with the first live virtual session featuring Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) on site on Tuesday (July 13). BSBCC founder Dr Wong Siew Te took the online viewers for a one-hour virtual tour, talking about the background of the species while showcasing the feeding of the bears. When contacted, Wong explained that the centre has actually been offering virtual tours since May last year, as the Covid-19 pandemic has made it difficult to receive visitors, especially international tourists. Some of the sun bears being fed during the live session on site of Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sandakan, to kickstart Sabah Tourism Board's 'Enchanting Sabah Live' series on Tuesday. “On average, we handle 10 virtual tours a month but ideally, we would like to reach the maximum of 60 virtual tours monthly, as my team can also do these tours, besides myself,” he told The Star.

After a year and a half of enduring the Covid-19 pandemic together, countries are separating into two groups. Moreover, the radical monetary and fiscal policies employed to combat first, the global financial crisis, and now, the pandemic, will, we believe, almost certainly spark off financial disturbances of some kind over time. So, a key question is: Will we see reforms to overcome failings in the countries where the pandemic had severe consequences? One reason why the economic resilience of Southeast Asia has improved so much since the Asian financial crisis is the thorough-going reforms in the financial sector and in macro-economic policies that followed that crisis. Also, in the years leading to this pandemic, governments across the region were already showing a keenness to push reforms.

SEREMBAN: Police have arrested four suspects, including a woman and a teenager, for alleged involvement in a phone scam and cheating a 57-year-old technician of RM470,000. Negri Sembilan commercial crime investigation department (CCID) chief Supt Aibee Ab Gani said the suspects were arrested in separate raids in Penang on Monday (July 12) and early Tuesday (July 13). "The suspects were arrested at three separate locations. Supt Aibee also said the police would be applying for their remand later. The victim said he received a call on July 7 from a man who identified himself as a tax officer.