The first school term for 2022 began yesterday for primary and secondary schools as well as sixth form centres.

Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar said during a press conference that the Ministry of Health (MoH) reported no positive results from the antigen rapid test (ART).

The Ministry of Education (MoE) said Years 10-13 students, who completed COVID-19 vaccination, returned to face-to-face lessons five days a week, including those with special needs in priority level one and two categories.

More details on Tuesday’s Borneo Bulletin

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the country dropped to 89 yesterday. Seven new cases – four locals and three imported – and 18 recoveries were also recorded.

With the latest cases, the national tally of confirmed cases is 15,506. This was said by Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar during a press conference yesterday.

More details on Tuesday’s Borneo Bulletin

The Royal Customs and Excise Department (RCED), through its law Enforcement Division seized a haul of contraband and detained a number of individuals allegedly involved in the cases in four separate locations on December 24 and 25, 2021.

Enforcement personnel found 49 cartons of cigarettes inside an abandoned vehicle during an operation in Kampong Katimahar on December 24, 2021.

Customs enforcement personnel raided a foreign worker house and detained two men – a 31-year-old Indonesian and a 36-year old Malaysian – for allegedly storing and selling contraband on December 25, 2021. The contraband comprised 11 cartons, one pack and 13 sticks of cigarettes as well as 29 bottles of alcohol.

More details on Tuesday’s Borneo Bulletin

HO CHI MINH CITY (Vietnam News/ANN) – Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee issued urgent guidelines for a five-step quarantine procedure for arriving passengers amid the emergence of the Omicron variant in Vietnam.

According to the document, the self-quarantine area (including homes, hotels, offices, dormitories, guest houses) must meet the standards required by the Ministry of Health.

If the accommodation fails to meet these criteria, incoming passengers will have to go into centralised quarantine facilities.

More details on Tuesday’s Borneo Bulletin

JAKARTA (CNA) – Indonesia will begin giving COVID-19 booster shots to the general public from January 12, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said yesterday, as the Omicron variant spreads in the country.

Health workers were given booster doses in July and the plan now is to cover all adults who took their second shots over six months ago. About 21 million people will be covered under the booster programme this month, Budi said.

“It has been decided by the president that (the programme) will begin on January 12,” he said.

More details on Tuesday’s Borneo Bulletin

NEW DELHI (AFP) – India extended COVID vaccinations to teens aged 15-18 yesterday, after officials tightened restrictions in big cities to avoid a repeat of last year’s devastating outbreak.

More than 200,000 people around India died in a huge spring virus wave that overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums. Health workers have since administered more than 1.4 billion vaccine doses but less than half of India’s population is fully inoculated, according to government data.

More details on Tuesday’s Borneo Bulletin

CAIRO (AP) – Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced his resignation on Sunday amid political deadlock and widespread pro-democracy protests following a military coup that derailed the country’s fragile transition to democratic rule.

Hamdok, a former United Nations (UN) official seen as the civilian face of Sudan’s transitional government, was reinstated as prime minister in November as part of an agreement with the military following the October coup. In that time he had failed to name a Cabinet and his resignation throws Sudan into political uncertainty amid uphill security and economic challenges.

In a televised national address on Sunday, Hamdok called for a dialogue to agree on a “national charter” and to “draw a roadmap” to complete the transition to democracy in accordance with the 2019 constitutional document governing the transitional period.

More details on Tuesday’s Borneo Bulletin

CAPE TOWN (AFP) – A fire that ravaged part of South Africa’s Parliament, engulfing the National Assembly and threatening national treasures, has been brought under control, firefighters said yesterday, as police charged a suspect with starting the blaze.

Flames broke out early Sunday in the oldest wing of the Cape Town complex, triggering an inferno that crews battled throughout the day.

“The fire was brought under control during the night,” spokesman Jermaine Carelse said, adding that teams were still extinguishing flames in the historic wood-panelled part of the building where it had begun.

More details on Tuesday’s Borneo Bulletin