News & Reviews:   Covid-19

The number of Covid-19 cases in our country is still unstable these days as it has soared up to 277 today compared to yesterday's 93. With that being said, it means that the fight against the pandemic is not over yet and we should be cautious to continue keeping ourselves safe. Today, it has been announced that the wearable company Fitbit has gotten its new ventilator approved by the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and the production is scheduled to begin this month. Fitbit is another non-medical company that took an effort to join the fight by providing medical supplies.

Google recently weighed in on our current Work From Home or WFH situation and productivity (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) with Laura Mae Martin, Executive Productivity Advisor, Google. For many just starting to work from home, the lines between work and home life are blurring, which may lead to WFH burnout. 

During this time, going out without a mask could risk yourself being exposed to Covid-19. Before the situation comes to an end (let's believe it will), a face mask is basically an essential item now in our daily lives. However, normal mask has a problem with technology which is your face would be undetectable while using a face recognition system, especially the widely-used Face ID. For that, Huami has taken on the challenge by developing a mask which allows Face ID to recognize you and also able to disinfect itself after each use.

After weeks of what amounted to a lockdown for industries and businesses, companies like Proton are finally able to reopen again with the announcement of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) near the end of April 2020. In compliance with the CMCO that will extend to 9 June 2020, Proton has announced that it has come up with new operating procedures for its offices.

The battle against COVID-19 is far from over and goes the same for false information around the Internet. Some companies are putting on the effort against this, such as WhatsApp limiting forwarded messages or Facebook showcasing legit COVID-19 news. As for Twitter, they too have a plan which is to put on warning messages.

In the wee hours of this Sunday morning, it was announced that Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin would be making another announcement. As many have predicted, he has declared an extension to the conditional movement control order (CMCO) to be extended to 9 June 2020.

The Conditional Movement Control Order(CMCO) begins today with most of the economic business sector and public transportations back in operations by following the standard SOP. All Rapid KL train users will require to follow certain movement control measures to avoid congestion and keep social distancing on trains.

If you're an Apple iPhone user, you would find unlocking your iPhone to be a hassle because of the face mask. Thankfully, the company is working on that and according to reports, the new iOS 13.5 beta will focus on the Face ID as well as "detecting" COVID-19 exposure for the outbreak period. By the way, there's also a new iOS 13.4.1 update patch but we will get to that later. 

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced on allowing two family members from the same household for essential grocery shopping during the movement control order (MCO) yesterday. But the Sabah government has not decided on following this relaxed measure by the federal government.

As we enter the 4th phase of the MCO, it has been confirmed that by multiple local newspaper agencies that the government will now allow two family members from the same household for essential grocery shopping. This amendment was approved by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which will be in effect from now onwards until 12 May (until further notice).