JAKARTA - Sad news came from Malaysia, after recording a record daily COVID-19 infection, followed by the closure of a vaccination center because hundreds of vaccinators were infected with COVID-19.
Malaysia's COVID-19 vaccination center was ordered to close for sanitation this time, after more than 200 volunteers and workers there tested positive over the weekend, Malaysian authorities said.
Those inoculated from July 9-12 in the centre, about 25 km (15.5 miles) outside Kuala Lumpur, are advised to self-isolate for 10 days, Malaysia's Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told reporters.
"This facility has a capacity of around 3,000 doses per day. Of the 453 workers and volunteers tested, 204 tested positive," Khairy said.
The incident comes as Malaysia struggles to contain its biggest outbreak, with record deaths and cases amid an increased vaccination program and stricter lockdown measures over the past month.
With a total of 844,870 cases of infection, Malaysia has one of the highest infection rates per capita in Southeast Asia, but also one of the highest inoculation rates, with 25 percent of its 32 million population having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"The center will resume vaccination on Wednesday after sanitation and staff changes," Khairy added.
This sad news of vaccinators being infected, followed by news that Malaysia recorded a record daily COVID-19 infection case since the start of the pandemic last year, with 11,079 infections in today's report.
Citing The Straits Times, the previous daily record was 9,353 cases as of July 10. Selangor reported most of the new cases, with 5,263 recorded by the country's most populous state.
The record in cases comes as Malaysia has remained under a nationwide lockdown since June 1, as the country struggled to control infections.
Regarding the shutdown of the vaccination centre, Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin insisted the one-day shutdown would not derail the country's vaccination programme, with plans to inoculate 60 percent of the population by the end of September still in effect.
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