Currently, Malaysia's Cabinet has been dissolved as a result of recent political developments.
This means the country is missing, among other things, a Health Minister.
This was a fact that was alluded to by its previous Health Minister, Dzulkefly Ahmad, on Twitter on Feb. 24, with the following update:
Translation:
"Praise God! Two more cases of Covid-19 have fully recovered and have been discharged today. There are no new positive cases.
Case 14 and Case 19 were previously treated in HKL (Kuala Lumpur Hospital). The total number of cases who have fully recovered and been discharged as of today is 20 people. Two people are still being treated and warded, and are in a stable condition.
This is my final tweet as Health Minister. Thank you!"
Joint Covid-19 working group status to continue despite developments
Despite the political shake-up, a joint working group between Singapore and Malaysia to tackle the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak is still slated to continue.
Singapore's Ministry of Health's director of medical services, Kenneth Mak, stated that staff from both countries have continued discussions.
He added that this signalled a strong relationship with their counterparts in Malaysia, and that Malaysia's recent political developments do not distract from the cooperation.
Minister of Health Gan Kim Yong further stated that staff from both sides have since been scheduled to meet soon, and that the relationship will have to continue despite the distraction.
What is the joint working group about?
The establishment of the working group was first mentioned by the Ministry of Health in a press release on Feb. 11, which said:
"...strengthen collaborations and enhance communication between both countries, in order to better understand and limit the spread of 2019-nCoV (Covid-19)."
The statement further highlighted that senior health officials from both countries would work closely together to determine the group's "composition and Terms of Reference."
For Singapore, Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health Lam Pin Min was nominated to co-chair the joint working group.
Top image collage from MOH Singapore Facebook and KEMENTERIAN KESIHATAN MALAYSIA Facebook