KOTA BARU: Five individuals, including two children, were hospitalised for Covid-19 in Kelantan during Epidemiological Week (EW) 25, which ran from June 15 to 21.

Kelantan Health Department director Datuk Dr Zaini Hussin said all five patients have since made a full recovery.

He added that no Covid-19-related intensive care unit (ICU) admissions or fatalities have been recorded in the state so far this year.

"As of EW25, Kelantan has recorded a cumulative total of 303 Covid-19 cases, with an average of 12 new cases reported weekly.

"In EW24, the state logged 34 cases, showing a slight decrease from 35 the previous week," he said in a statement.

Zaini said the Covid-19 situation in Kelantan remains under control and is still below the alert threshold.

As a precautionary measure, he urged high-risk groups, including senior citizens, individuals with comorbidities, immunocompromised adolescents, pregnant women, and healthcare workers, to receive an additional dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

He added that individuals aged 18 and above are also eligible to receive the vaccine voluntarily, subject to medical advice.

"I urge all Kelantanese, regardless of age, to get vaccinated in line with the recommendations under the National Covid-19 Immunisation programme.

"Free immunisation and vaccination services are available at selected government health clinics," he said.

Zaini reminded the public that although the country is now in the endemic phase of managing Covid-19, it remains important to practise preventive measures.

"These include frequent handwashing with soap and water or using hand sanitiser, as well as wearing face masks in crowded places," he said.

He added that the department would continue to monitor the situation and provide updates via the official portal at covid-19.moh.gov.my.

BEIJING – Sebuah pusat beli-belah di wilayah Guizhou, barat daya China dinaik air dengan pantas ketika rantau itu berdepan paras banjir tertinggi dalam beberapa dekad, lapor akhbar The Sun UK kelmarin. 

Kejadian berlaku di pusat beli-belah terbesar dekat daerah Rongjiang. 

Rakaman video yang dimuat naik di media sosial menunjukkan air mengalir deras dari tingkat atas sehingga mencetuskan pemandangan seperti air terjun. 

Pelbagai objek termasuk pakaian dan kerusi kelihatan terapung sambil dibawa arus deras. 

Rakaman video lain pula memaparkan detik cemas apabila beberapa kenderaan dihanyutkan ke kawasan parkir bawah tanah bersama pemandu di dalam kereta. 

Amaran dikeluarkan pada Jumaat lepas apabila hujan lebat berterusan menyebabkan paras air di Sungai Rongjiang meningkat kepada 114.6 meter. 

Rongjiang yang menempatkan kira-kira 300,000 penduduk itu tidak pernah berdepan paras banjir tertinggi dalam tempoh 30 tahun, demikian menurut akhbar China Daily. – AGENSI

PARIS: Japanese video game legend Hideo Kojima releases Death Stranding 2: On the Beach this week, a star-studded PlayStation sequel inspired by the Covid pandemic.

Kojima has said the follow-up to the meditative 2019 game, in which Walking Dead star Norman Reedus played post-apocalyptic deliveryman Sam Porter Bridges, is "about connection".

"I said, let's get connected. Right after that, we had the pandemic, and my fiction became a little reality" as people communed over new digital channels, he added.

Death Stranding 2, which drops June 26, reflects Kojima's hope that people will rediscover analogue ways of being together following the years of isolation, he said.

The first Death Stranding was a hybrid between a hiking simulator and a classic action game.

It was set in a gloomy, fantastical science-fiction universe where characters are aged by the rain and carry foetuses that warn them of dangerous ghostly creatures nearby.

Reedus's character Bridges had the job of reconnecting the last outposts of civilisation in a devastated United States following a disaster.

This time Bridges's adventures will bring him to Mexico and Australia, in a story that 61-year-old Kojima – creator of the equally fantastical Metal Gear stealth action saga – said was completely rewritten in light of Covid-19.

"I already had the DS2 idea but I had to scratch that off because I experienced the pandemic. So I rewrote," he said.

"It's a new connection... I put that in the game system and I want everyone to experience that," Kojima added.

French actor Lea Seydoux – a star of films like James Bond adventure No Time to Die or Quentin Tarantino's World War II romp Inglourious Basterds – returns in 3D form alongside Reedus.

But new big-name talent is also along for the ride, including American actor Elle Fanning and the likeness of Mad Max director George Miller. French singer Woodkid composed the score for the new episode.

Kojima Productions, the eponymous studio the developer founded in 2015 after leaving Japanese giant Konami, said in March this year that the first Death Stranding had more than 20 million players.

And the franchise is broadening out to other media, with a feature film in development with American studio A24 as well as an animated film.

Kojima is already turning his bottomless energy to other projects, including a horror game, OD, co-written with American director Jordan Peele (Get Out, Nope) and developed in partnership with Microsoft.

He is also returning to the world of spy games in the vein of Metal Gear with a new espionage title, PHYSINT. – AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Sdn Bhd has denied a SelangorKini report claiming that treated sewage discharge was the cause of flooding in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam.

According to IWK, its operations team conducted an inspection following a complaint by Zone 9 city councillor Ramu Nadarajan and found that the primary cause of the overflow in drains and ditches was poor maintenance.

“The drainage system was clogged with rubbish, sediment and tree roots, which obstructed water flow,” the company said in a statement today.

As a result, treated effluent from a nearby sewage treatment plant (STP) and rainwater from the residential area could not drain properly.

IWK added that the area’s low-lying location and its proximity to Sungai Klang also contribute to frequent flooding.

IWK clarified that the existing sewerage infrastructure and STP, which have been in operation for over 30 years, were built in accordance with technical plans based on the area’s original development design.

“The discharge route for treated effluent has remained unchanged since the plant was built,” it said.

The company also stated that two Aerated Lagoon-type STPs serve the neighbourhood and both are operating within their designed population equivalent (PE) capacity, without signs of overloading.

The findings have been shared with the Zone 9 councillor and the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA).

Earlier, SelangorKini reported that Ramu had urged IWK to redirect the treated discharge, claiming the existing route was contributing to repeated floods in the area. — Bernama