More than 20,000 confirmed cases, restart the new crown isolation? This country speaks out urgently! The Czech Republic lowers its flag at half-mast in mourning, what happened?

Malaysia's emergency response.

Recently, the new crown epidemic in Malaysia continues to spread, with more than 20,000 confirmed cases of the new crown reported in a single week, and the country's Ministry of Health announced the "restart of isolation norms", requiring confirmed cases to self-isolate for 5 days. This incident caused a large number of netizens to forward it on social platforms. On the 23rd, the Malaysian Tourism Board's WeChat official account issued a document saying that the epidemic prevention measures have been misinterpreted and that tourists from all over the world are welcome to visit.

In addition to Malaysia, other Southeast Asian countries are also facing the impact of the epidemic. Recently, Singapore's Ministry of Health announced the resumption of daily epidemic data updates, and in the week ended December 9, Singapore reported 56,000 new coronavirus infections, of which JN.1 variant cases accounted for 60%, and Indonesia's new crown confirmed cases also increased significantly compared with November. On December 19, local time, the World Health Organization listed the new crown JN.1 variant as a "variant of concern".

In addition, there is sad news from the European country of the Czech Republic. On December 23, local time, flags were lowered at half-mast across the Czech Republic to mourn the victims of the shooting at Charles University in Prague on the 21st. "Unprecedented mass shooting", Reuters reported on the 22nd that according to the Czech police, the shooting has killed 14 people and injured 25 people, many of whom are seriously injured, and the death toll may rise.

More than 20,000 cases have been confirmed and isolation has been restarted

Recently, the new crown epidemic in Malaysia continues to spread, and the country's Ministry of Health urgently announced the "resumption of isolation norms", requiring confirmed cases to self-isolate for 5 days. This incident caused a large number of netizens to forward it on social platforms.

According to CCTV News, citing Malaysian media reports, the number of new crown cases in Malaysia has increased in recent days, and the local Ministry of Health announced that confirmed cases need to self-isolate for 5 days from the first day of symptoms, and after 5 days, they also need to continue to take epidemic prevention measures such as wearing masks. Malaysia's Ministry of Transport is also encouraging people to wear masks when using the public transport system.

According to the report, from December 10 to 16, Malaysia reported more than 20,000 confirmed cases of the new crown, most of which had mild symptoms.

According to media reports, on December 19, the Ministry of Health of Malaysia issued a document announcing that those who test positive for the new coronavirus need to undergo a 5-day home quarantine from the date of symptom onset, and the Ministry of Health will issue a 5-day home isolation order to the confirmed through the official epidemic prevention APP, and the confirmed person needs to complete a health assessment in the APP.

In addition, those who have been diagnosed should avoid going to crowded places or coming into contact with high-risk groups within 10 days after diagnosis.

According to statistics from the Malaysian Ministry of Health, the Omicron variant, which is currently dominant in the new crown epidemic, is not ferocious, and most of the confirmed cases are mild.

In view of this, Chen Shufang, a public health expert from the Disease Control Group of the Ministry of Health, said that according to the Ministry of Health's observation of the epidemic trend, the number of confirmed cases is expected to drop significantly in a month (mid-January 2024).

Tourism Malaysia issued an urgent voice

On December 23, the Malaysian Tourism Board's WeChat official account posted that in the past few days, reports on the Internet about "Malaysia's resumption of new crown quarantine" have been widely concerned, but in fact, the expression of "restart" is not accurate. Malaysia, like many other countries, has long had a home quarantine requirement for those who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, so it would be more appropriate to say "re-emphasis".

Malaysia's health ministry said the government would no longer enforce the movement control order and had no intention of restricting international travellers again.

Malaysia's Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Teo Keng Shin, said in a social media post that the country's health ministry's recent announcement does not mean that tourists will need to quarantine when entering the country.

In addition, Zhang Qingxin issued an article refuting the "misleading" reports and hoped that all parties would convey correct and truthful information to avoid misleading tourists.

Zhang Qingxin said that countries around the world are facing the rebound trend of new crown data, and the Malaysian Ministry of Health has also announced epidemic prevention measures a few days ago, but unfortunately the words "confirmed patients must be quarantined at home for 5 days" have been misinterpreted, and various false rumors have filled social networks, causing some international travelers to be misunderstood and even panicked, thinking that they need to quarantine when entering Malaysia, thus reducing their willingness to travel to Malaysia.

Teo said that the anti-epidemic measures are only to better protect the health and safety of people and tourists, and the Malaysian Ministry of Health has made it clear that the government has no intention of implementing the Movement Control Order (MCO) again or reinstating the previous lockdown measures, so tourists should not be overly concerned.

WHO speaks out

In addition to Malaysia, other Southeast Asian countries are also facing the impact of the epidemic.

Recently, Singapore's Ministry of Health announced the resumption of daily epidemic data updates. Singapore reported 56,000 coronavirus infections in the week ended Dec. 9, up 75% from the last week of November, with the average number of hospitalisations surging to 350 from 225 a week earlier. Among them, the JN.1 variant accounts for about 60% of infections in Singapore.

In addition, Indonesia has also seen a significant increase in COVID cases compared to November, with a 13% increase in infections, with an average of 200 cases per day in the capital, Jakarta, but 90% of cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.

In this wave of the pandemic, a new variant of the new coronavirus, the JN.1 strain, has raised concerns. On December 19, local time, the World Health Organization listed the new crown JN.1 variant as a "variant of concern", and pointed out that the current evidence shows that JN.1 poses a low public health risk.

Separately, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this month, the JN.1 subvariant accounted for about 15%-29% of cases in the U.S. as of Dec. 8. The variant was first detected in the United States in September this year.

While JN.1 is able to evade the immune system and is more transmissible than other currently circulating variants of the coronavirus, it has not shown any signs of more severe disease, according to Reuters, citing infectious disease experts.

Pecos, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States, said that while there may be more people infected with JN.1, it does not pose a greater risk.

The WHO says current vaccines will continue to prevent severe illness and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants.

Flags were lowered at half-mast throughout the Czech Republic in mourning

On December 24, the global network quoted Reuters as reporting that on Saturday (23rd) local time, the Czech Republic lowered flags at half-mast to mourn the victims of the shooting at Charles University in Prague on the 21st, which killed 14 victims and injured 25 others.

According to the report, people across the Czech Republic stopped at noon in the rain and snow to observe a minute of silence for the victims. Some mourners brought candles and flowers to the temporary memorial site outside Charles University's School of Arts, as well as the Charles University headquarters near the city center.

According to previous reports, after the shooting, Charles University issued a statement on the evening of the 21st saying that it would immediately strengthen campus security measures. Czech President Peter Pavel ended his visit to France ahead of schedule, and Prime Minister Peter Fiala canceled his work arrangements in eastern the Czech Republic and rushed back to Prague as soon as possible.

The Czech government declared December 23 as a national day of mourning after an emergency meeting on the evening of the 21st to mourn the victims of the shooting at Charles University in the capital Prague.

It is understood that Charles University, also known as the University of Prague, was founded in 1348 and is the oldest university in the Czech Republic and even Central Europe, and is also the highest university in the Czech Republic, with more than 50,000 students.

The head of the Czech police department, von Drašek, said the gunman, a 24-year-old student at Charles University, had died, according to the Associated Press.

The Czech police did not provide details about the victim and did not disclose the possible motive for the shooting. Czech Interior Minister Rakushan said there was no indication that the incident was linked to extremism.

Editor-in-charge: Tactical Heng

Proofreader: Li Lingfeng