Foreign
MALAYSIAN officials have been forced to temporarily close a Coronavirus vaccination centre after almost half its workers tested positive for the virus.
Of 453 staff and volunteers at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC) in Selanagor, an industrial region south of Kuala Lumpur that had been hit hard by the virus in recent weeks, 204 have been infected, according to Khairy Jamaluddin, the minister in charge of the country’s vaccination programme.
Khairy, who is also science minister, said “it is difficult for us to ascertain whether an infection occurred at IDCC or elsewhere’’ but said the centre would reopen this week with replacement staff.
Malaysia’s Health Ministry on Tuesday announced over 11,000 new virus cases, by far the most in one day and taking the cumulative caseload to over 855,000.
Almost 7,000 of the cases were recorded in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, according to ministry director-general, Noor Hisham Adbullah.
New daily case records have been set three times over the past week, in spite of the government imposing what it called a total lockdown in May.
Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin has rebuffed calls by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which was the biggest party in his governing coalition, to resign.
UMNO withdrew support for Muhyiddin last week while sharply criticising his handling of the pandemic.
Over 400,000 vaccine doses were administered nationwide on Monday, the most in one day, the Health Ministry said. (dpa/NAN)
– July 13, 2021 @ 12:09 GMT |
Tags: Malaysia closes jab hub after nearly half the workers test positive
