PORTAL RASMI
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
AGENSI PENGURUSAN BENCANA NEGARA
GEORGE TOWN: Malaysians have been urged to remain vigilant of Covid-19, especially during the coming school holidays.
Virologist Dr Kumitaa Theva Das said usually, cases would hike when there are large gatherings, as the phenomenon increases the chances of the spread of the virus.
“For example, the spike in Thailand was attributed to the Songkran Festival in April.
“But since this JN.1 variant has been circulating for a while, we are not going to see 20,000 cases a day despite the school holidays,” she said.
Dr Kumitaa, who is with Universiti Sains Malaysia, said the country’s healthcare providers were also not expected to be overwhelmed.
Experts surmise that JN.1, a descendant of the Omicron lineage, emerged two years ago in several countries, including Malaysia.
She said the current spike in neighbouring countries, like Singapore, was due to the LF.7 and NB.1.8 variants, which are offshoots of JN.1. She said LF.7 was actually detected in Malaysia middle of last year.
“This means that many people may have been infected with it in the past and have immunity against it,” she said.
She added that the public should always practice caution at all times and wear masks if necessary.
“If you have young children or elderly in your family, wearing a mask will help keep you safe, especially for the high-risk groups,” Dr Kumitaa said.
Penang Hospital’s infectious disease unit head Datuk Dr Chow Ting Soo said it was important for people not to drop their guard.
“We should always practice good cough etiquette and avoid public spaces when down with respiratory illnesses,” she said.
Dr Chow said wearing masks and avoiding crowded areas were a must if one is immunocompromised or elderly.
She also urged people to adopt proper hygiene practices and get their annual vaccinations.
“Now, we have the Covid-19 vaccine available at government health clinics. The elderly and those with comorbidities can get their appointments via the MySejahtera app,” she said.
State health director Datuk Dr Fazilah Shaik Allaudin said that, according to the latest announcement from the Health Ministry on May 16, all states in Malaysia reported Covid-19 cases that fell below the warning threshold for the period spanning Epidemiological Week (EW) 16 to EW19/2025, which includes Penang.
She said the ministry would continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation and will implement suitable preventative measures based on the current risk assessment.
In Kedah, health committee chairman Mansor Zakaria said the situation was also under control. “Cases recorded are not serious, and there is no indication that there will be an increase,” he said.
Schools around the country will take a one-week break from May 29 to June 9.
BELAWAI, 26 Mei: Tapak pelupusan sampah di Kampung Jerijeh di sini, terbakar hari ini.
Komander Operasi, Alban Gayan Lembang berkata, pihaknya menerima panggilan berhubung kes itu jam 2.58 petang dengan menggerakkan lima anggota Balai Bomba dan Penyelamat (BBP) Tanjung Manis ke lokasi kejadian.
“Setibanya di lokasi kejadian didapati kebakaran tapak pelupusan sampah berkeluasan 0.00826 ekar.
“Pihak bomba bertindak melakukan teknik pemadaman dengan menggunakan tiga aliran hos 400 kaki, tiga nozel dari sumber air terbuka,” katanya dalam kenyataan hari ini.
Katanya, operasi pemadaman ditangguhkan pada jam 7 malam ini dan akan disambung pada hari esok. – TVS
DAKAR, 27 Mei- Seramai 11 orang disahkan maut manakala tujuh lagi cedera selepas sebuah bangunan tiga tingkat yang sedang dalam pembinaan runtuh di bandar Touba, Senegal, semalam.
Kejadian berlaku ketika kerja-kerja pembinaan sedang dijalankan.
Pengarah Kebangsaan Pembinaan, Moussa Tine, dalam kenyataannya kepada media tempatan memaklumkan insiden berpunca daripada kegagalan mematuhi piawaian serta peraturan pembinaan yang ditetapkan.
Touba, yang terletak di tengah Senegal, kini pesat membangun daripada segi kepadatan penduduk dan pembangunan infrastruktur.
Bagaimanapun, sebahagian besar projek pembinaan di kawasan berkenaan dikenal pasti dijalankan tanpa kelulusan rasmi serta tidak mematuhi spesifikasi keselamatan, sekali gus meningkatkan risiko kejadian seperti itu.
Untuk rekod, kejadian runtuhan bangunan sering berlaku di Senegal.
Awal Mei lalu, dua nyawa terkorban dalam insiden di ibu negara Dakar, manakala pada Januari 2024, tujuh lagi maut dalam kejadian sama.
Pada Julai 2023, lima orang terbunuh di Guinea apabila dua bangunan yang masih dalam pembinaan runtuh.- AFP
GHINNI GHINNI, Australia (Reuters) -Farmer Mark Kappa was enjoying his first hot drink in three days as he waited patiently for his meal in front of a food truck run by a Sikh charity, after incessant rain in Australia's southeast cut off towns and forced thousands to evacuate their homes.
Melbourne-based Sikh VolunteersAustralia travelled nearly 1,200 km (746 miles) to the rural town of Taree in New South Wales, one of the worst-hit from last week's floods in Australia's most populous state, to set up their mobile kitchen in the parking area of a hardware store.
"They said about 20 minutes or so, I'll tuck in then," Kappa said as the volunteers prepared pasta, rice and vegetarian curry.
More than 50,000 people in the Hunter and Mid North coast regions of New South Wales, around 300 km (186 miles) north of Sydney, were isolated last week after fast-rising waters burst river banks, destroyed homes and washed away roads.
Five deaths have been linked to thefloods. "We've had no power for three days out at the farm. We lost our milk. We lost everything," Kappa said.
After serving almost 3,000 fresh meals over the last three days, Sikh VolunteersAustraliahead Jaswinder Singh said: "In times of disasters, I've seen the spirit of theAustralians come even better, closer to each other ... so that's a good thing. That has a very positive impact."
Despite the small space available, the charity has been distributing food neatly packed in small boxes.
"To be able to know that you can turn up and just get some food is - it's just heart-warming," said Ashari Hudson, who was picking up food for a friend hit by floods.
The Sikh volunteers have provided free food since 2017 during several crises, including bush fires and floods.
Australiahas been hit with increasing extreme weather events that some experts say are the result of climate change. Following droughts and devastating bushfires at the end of last decade, frequentfloodshave wreaked havoc since early 2021.
(Reporting by Jill Gralow in Ghinni Ghinni; Writing by Renju Jose; Editing by Sonali Paul)
PETALING JAYA: Keuntungan bersih Petronas Gas Bhd meningkat kepada RM468.80 juta pada suku pertama 2025 daripada RM456.65 juta pada suku sama tahun sebelumnya.
Hasil bagaimanapun merosot kepada RM1.59 bilion pada suku dikaji daripada RM1.62 bilion setahun lalu, terutamanya disebabkan oleh penurunan hasil daripada segmen pengangkutan gas dan regasifikasi berikutan pelarasan tarif menurun yang berpunca daripada faktor perkongsian penggunaan gas dalaman yang lebih rendah pada tahun sebelumnya.
Dalam makluman kepada Bursa Malaysia, kumpulan itu berkata, prestasi keseluruhannya bagi tahun kewangan 2025 dijangka kekal berdaya tahan dan stabil, walaupun terdapat gangguan operasi akibat insiden kebakaran saluran paip gas di Putra Heights pada April lalu.
Menurutnya, semua segmen perniagaan teras dijangka mengekalkan kekuatan masing-masing dan terus menyumbang secara positif kepada pendapatan kumpulan.
“Berdasarkan keadaan semasa di lokasi dan tahap kerosakan aset sementara menunggu hasil siasatan rasmi, jumlah kesan kewangan daripada kerja-kerja pembaikan dan pemulihan dianggarkan kira-kira RM170 juta.
“Sebahagian besar daripada perbelanjaan ini akan diperoleh daripada modal sebagai sebahagian daripada perbelanjaan modal syarikat, dengan pemulihan sebahagian kos dijangka melalui tuntutan insurans.
“Kehilangan hasil yang berpunca daripada gangguan perkhidmatan sementara dijangka minimum iaitu kira-kira RM20 juta, hasil daripada kerjasama rapat dengan pihak berkuasa kawal selia, penghantar dan pengedar gas yang membolehkan perkhidmatan saluran paip gas dipulihkan dan bekalan yang stabil dapat dilakukan dengan cepat,” katanya.
Petronas Gas berkata, jumlah anggaran kesan kepada keuntungan daripada kerja-kerja pemulihan aset dan kehilangan hasil diunjur sekitar RM60 juta.
“Sebagai tindak balas terhadap insiden itu, kumpulan sedang mempergiat tumpuannya terhadap pengurusan risiko yang kukuh, daya tahan operasi dan langkah-langkah mitigasi yang proaktif.
“Kami kekal komited untuk mengekalkan standard keselamatan dan kecemerlangan operasi yang paling tinggi sambil terus mengamalkan pengurusan kos yang berdisiplin dan pertumbuhan strategik jangka panjang bagi memastikan kesinambungan dan kemampanan perniagaan,” katanya.
Pengarah syarikat meluluskan dividen interim pertama sebanyak 16 sen sesaham biasa berjumlah RM316.6 juta bagi tahun kewangan berakhir 31 Disember 2025, yang akan dibayar pada 24 Jun 2025. – UTUSAN