Education Minister Datuk Radzi Jidin today announced that schools are set to reopen from October 3 with 50 per cent capacity in classrooms. However, the decision to send their children to schools would still be in the hands of the parents. Students were allowed to attend school in other attire besides their uniform, as long as it was neat and appropriate, until the end of the year. In ensuring the school’s ecosystem is safe, only fully vaccinated teachers and school support services staff are allowed to enter the school premises. How safe is it exactly to allow kids back to school?

Sept 12, A driver believed to be under the influence of drugs rammed his car into another vehicle, killing two people after he drove against the flow of traffic. Investigations showed that a pickup truck that was being driven by a 24-year-old man, was going against traffic before colliding into a car. The Mitsubishi Triton driven by the suspect against traffic flow was heading to Klang from Kuala Lumpur when it collided with the teenagers' Proton Wira which was going the opposite direction from Klang to Kuala Lumpur. Urine tests showed that the pickup-truck driver tested positive for marijuana.

World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), celebrated annually on 10 September, is organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO).  Every 40 seconds someone takes their life; that’s almost 800,000 people a year  around the world. The event represents a global commitment to focus attention on suicide prevention. The theme of WSPD 2021, “Creating hope through action,” reflects the need for collective, action to address this urgent public health issue. Studies have shown that strong social and family support is protective against suicide. Preventing suicide has never been a solo act.

One of the world’s most wanted paedophiles — Alladin Lanim who operated out of Lundu, Sarawak  was finally apprehended recently. Alladin had posted about his exploits on the dark web which detailed abuses inflicted on children between the ages of 2 and 16. With the recent arrest of paedophiles in Sarawak, lawmakers and civil societies have called for greater empowerment of law enforcement agencies tasked with overseeing sexual crimes. Bandar Kuching member of parliament Dr Kelvin Yii said the government should strengthen the federal police force's specialised Sexual, Women and Child Investigations Division.

Every day about 10 to 20 people are brought in dead (BiD) and this is a frightening and worrying scenario. Most of them passed on in their homes while some collapsed at public places. These cases are generally patients who tested positive for the virus but were in Categories 1 and 2, who were either asymptomatic or displayed minor symptoms of cold and fever. According to a media report, 30% of the BiD cases were not aware of their symptoms and infection, and they had taken them for granted. They thought it was a minor cold or fever, and that they would recover.

Kelantan police recorded a drastic increase of 51 alleged rape cases in the first seven months of this year following the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO). During the same period last year, 39 such cases were recorded. Police are more concerned with the rape cases as majority of them involved underage girls and students. Police have to classify the case as alleged rape because the victims were under-aged. Most of it allegedly took place either at the victims' or the suspect's homes because during this MCO period they could not go to a hotel, rent a homestay or go to beaches to commit the immoral activities. Majority of the victims were aged between 13 and 16 years old and the alleged rape cases.

A new study of breakthrough Covid-19 infections finds that vaccines not only reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalization, but can lower the odds of having long-term Covid-19 symptoms too. It shows that in the minority of people who get Covid despite two jabs, the odds of developing symptoms lasting longer than four weeks are cut by 50%. Vaccination, compared with no vaccination, was associated with reduced odds of Covid-19 hospitalization or having more than five symptoms in the first week of illness following a first or second dose.  The researchers found, and there were reduced odds of long-term symptoms lasting 28 days or more following a second vaccine dose. In terms of the burden of long Covid, it is good news that our research has found that having a double vaccination significantly reduces the risk of both catching the virus and, if you do, developing long-standing symptoms.

It has been over a year since the first movement control order (MCO) came into force which resulted in restricted public activities. At Klang Valley, Klang River shows signs of improvement with less waste collected, more wildlife sightings. Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd’s (LLSB) Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG) project which is responsible for the rehabilitation and rejuvenation of the river has seen less waste being collected from the river since the first MCO. River was producing less smell and was cleaner now. Monthly average collection of waste has gone down from 1,500 metric tonnes (MT) in 2016 to about 900MT now. Is MCO all that bad as we all think?

About 62.5% of Chinese minors often play games online, and 13.2% of underage mobile game users play mobile games for more than two hours a day on weekdays, according to state media. Psychiatrists are seeing more cases of young patients who are hooked on gadgets such as smartphones, tablets and computers and manifesting signs of Internet gaming addiction (IGA) or Internet gaming disorder, and anxiety disorder comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD). China has since barred online gamers under the age of 18 from playing on weekdays and limited their play to just three hours most weekends.

First, Covid-19 virus. Now we have African Swine Fever (ASF)! It is a deadly and contagious disease that has been lowering pork production, devastating peoples’ incomes and causing malnutrition. African swine fever, which is deadly to pigs but harmless to humans, poses a threat to food stocks. Limbang, Kapit and Miri divisions in Sarawak have been declared African Swine Fever (ASF) disease control areas following the spread of the virus in Sabah and North Kalimantan in Indonesia. Sarawak Veterinary Services Department (JPVS) said public is not allowed to move out live pigs, their meat, or products from the controlled areas. The public is also not allowed to bring in, shop online or use postal services for pork or its products without a permit; as well as buying or selling (physically or online) or keep in possession wild boar