Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by lijor the great

NEJM study on blood clotting events after Chadox1

lijor the great — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 13:39:28 +0800

Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia after Chadox1 ncov-19 Vaccination

Paper used ELISA test to detect platelet activating antibodies against PF4 in patients who suffered from blood clot events after Astra vaccination. Based on the study it concludes that the vaccine itself induces the body to produce platelet activating antibodies against PF4 which results in the blood clotting events. What is unknown is the mechanism that explains how the vaccine induces such antibodies.

QUOTE

Whether these antibodies are autoantibodies against PF4 induced by the strong inflammatory stimulus of vaccination or antibodies induced by the vaccine that cross-react with PF4 and platelets requires further study.

Another intriguing mechanism they hypothesize:

QUOTE

One possible trigger of these PF4-reactive antibodies could be free DNA in the vaccine. We have previously shown that DNA and RNA form multimolecular complexes with PF4, which bind antibodies from patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and also induce antibodies against PF4–heparin in a murine model.

from abstract:

QUOTE

We assessed the clinical and laboratory features of 11 patients in Germany and Austria in whom thrombosis or thrombocytopenia had developed after vaccination with ChAdOx1 nCov-19. We used a standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect platelet factor 4 (PF4)–heparin antibodies and a modified (PF4-enhanced) platelet-activation test to detect platelet-activating antibodies under various reaction conditions. Included in this testing were samples from patients who had blood samples referred for investigation of vaccine-associated thrombotic events, with 28 testing positive on a screening PF4–heparin immunoassay.

QUOTE

All 28 patients who tested positive for antibodies against PF4–heparin tested positive on the platelet-activation assay in the presence of PF4 independent of heparin. Platelet activation was inhibited by high levels of heparin, Fc receptor–blocking monoclonal antibody, and immune globulin (10 mg per milliliter).

Covid Therapeutics trials Interim update, bad news

lijor the great — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 01:13:26 +0800

Trial drugs little to no effect on 28 day mortality rates or hospital duration

QUOTE

In just six months, the world’s largest randomized control trial on COVID-19 therapeutics has generated conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of repurposed drugs for the treatment of COVID-19.

Interim results from the Solidarity Therapeutics Trial, coordinated by the World Health Organization, indicate that remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon regimens appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or the in-hospital course of COVID-19 among hospitalized patients.

The study, which spans more than 30 countries, looked at the effects of these treatments on overall mortality, initiation of ventilation, and duration of hospital stay in hospitalized patients. Other uses of the drugs, for example in treatment of patients in the community or for prevention, would have to be examined using different trials.

The progress achieved by the Solidarity Therapeutics Trial shows that large international trials are possible, even during a pandemic, and offer the promise of quickly and reliably answering critical public health questions concerning therapeutics.

The results of the trial are under review for publication in a medical journal and have been uploaded as preprint at medRxiv available at this link: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/202...0.15.20209817v1

The global platform of the Solidarity Trial is ready to rapidly evaluate promising new treatment options, with nearly 500 hospitals open as trial sites.

Newer antiviral drugs, immunomodulators and anti-SARS COV-2 monoclonal antibodies are now being considered for evaluation.

[attachmentid=10840934]

Jangan terkonfius

lijor the great — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 15:23:22 +0800

In honor of yesterday thread about order grab food but terkonfius order nonhalal, I present the new Korean supermarket at 1u mrt wing with solution to prevent this problem.

Upah

Guess who’s back

lijor the great — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 15:35:03 +0800

better to work in familymart than engineer

lijor the great — Sat, 10 Apr 2021 08:30:44 +0800

https://worldofbuzz.com/msian-advises-fresh...ng-an-engineer/

QUOTE

Family Mart employee’s salary: RM1500 + RM150 shift allowance + overtime. Monthly take away salary average, RM 2,000 or more.

Engineer working in SME: RM2,200 fixed

The only requirement you need to work in Family Mart is to be able to read and write but to work as an engineer, you need to have your own transport, pay for your own Internet, must be available to work overtime and Mandarin speakers are preferred.
"His final point was that you won’t accumulate any debt by working in Family Mart but to graduate as an engineer, you might need to get a PTPTN education loan of RM100K. After considering all this, Nedumaran said that the clear winner is Family Mart! As a disclaimer, he even added that his post is not a sponsored recruitment post by Family Mart Malaysia."

Singki come in; why most seem pessimistic

lijor the great — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 02:00:20 +0800

I go EDMW seems most there say jialat, want migrate, future screw up....why? what is the repercussion of DPM Heng stepping aside? Why was he forced out now?

https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...igrate.6494751/

EMA report on blood clot events Astra vax

lijor the great — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 14:14:09 +0800

Didnt see anyone open topic or post this document so I thought this would be useful. VERY VERY detailed reports on all incidents up to around mid March. Member state comments, questions of concerns and hypotheses in section 3.1.7

Edit: for the meat and potatoes part, go to page 40 (Possible vaccine-specific pathogenic mechanisms for combined thromboembolic/thrombocytopenic effects) for the three mechanism they hypothesize could be specific to the vax:

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Is police cartel linked to past. koh?

lijor the great — Sat, 03 Apr 2021 00:11:45 +0800

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...ces-asks-group/

QUOTE

PETALING JAYA: The recent claims that there was a police cartel trying to control the force has prompted a human rights group to ask if this is linked to the disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat.

Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (CAGED) said that although a high-level enquiry had concluded two years ago that they were likely abducted by the police, the report has not been made public yet.

The high-level task force comprising a retired judge and policemen was convened by the home minister in 2019 to investigate a finding by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) that Amri and Koh were victims of enforced disappearance.

Suhakam declared that Bukit Aman’s Special Branch was behind the disappearance of the duo, after an 18-month inquiry that began in 2017. The families of the missing men have sued the government.

In a statement today, CAGED said the task force report ought to be released, in view of the current allegations of a cartel of dirty cops within the police force.

It said with such allegations being made, the image of the police has taken a beating and making the report public could help restore the force’s credibility.

The group said home minister Hamzah Zainudin, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the Cabinet need to release the report to ensure transparency.

“We are asking if the same cartel is responsible for the enforced disappearances. The public must be given substantive reasons to believe that the Special Branch is not doing this to others too.

“That negative public opinion will continue if no action is taken against errant officers,” it said.

School open one month already holiday

lijor the great — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:25:34 +0800

Wtf? Barely one month reopen school, today i learnt they are on one week term break. Wtf.

Syiok la, if last time my school years like this. Banyak banyak cuti pengal.

T cell reactivity against SARS2 mutant strains

lijor the great — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 22:54:37 +0800

This study investigated CD4+ and CD8+ T cell reactivity from the blood of recovered covid patients (NON MUTANT strains!) and those who were vaccinated with Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Encouragingly, they found that there the T cells reactivity were largely unaffected by the UK, South Africa and Brazil strains. This implies that even if the mutant strains defeated the mRNA vaccines in terms of transmission (i.e. a leaky vax), it will still likely be effective in preventing severe illness and death.

Edit: a serious limitation is the low N size, only N=11 and N=19 for the recovered and vaccinated groups.

Jennie 'massage'... am I SLOW?

lijor the great — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 12:10:12 +0800

[YOUTUBE]tGarfxc9XHY[/YOUTUBE]

0:09 onwards

come in [@ClericKilla]

SLS milestone achieved, artemis is go!

lijor the great — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 02:25:50 +0800

[YOUTUBE]1EGZ0AZMcJk[/YOUTUBE]

first time all four RS25 engines fired simultaneously. will have more thrust than the saturn V or energia buran when paired with the two boosters.

EU: Astra vax benefits outweighs risk

lijor the great — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 11:54:18 +0800

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/a...=19%2F03%2F2021

QUOTE

AMSTERDAM/LONDON (REUTERS) – Germany, France and other European nations announced plans to resume using AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday (March 18) after EU and British regulators moved to shore up confidence in the shot, saying its benefits outweigh the risks.

Reports of rare brain blood clots had prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend use of the shot, the latest challenge for AstraZeneca’s ambition to produce a “vaccine for the world”, as the global death toll from the coronavirus passes 2.8 million.

The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) “clear” conclusion following an investigation into 30 cases of unusual blood disorders was that the vaccine’s benefits in protecting people from coronavirus-related death or hospitalisation outweighs the possible risks, though it said a link between blood clots in the brain and the shot could not be definitively ruled out.

“This is a safe and effective vaccine,” EMA director Emer Cooke told a briefing. “If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow.”

Within hours, Germany said it would resume administering the AstraZeneca vaccine from Friday morning. Health Minister Jens Spahn said suspending the vaccine out of caution had been the right call “until the clustering of this very rare type of thrombosis had been examined.”

France, too, said it would resume use of the vaccine, with Prime Minister Jean Castex saying he would receive the shot himself on Friday afternoon.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Italy would do the same, and that his government’s priority remained to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.

Spain said it was evaluating a possible resumption, while Cyprus, Latvia and Lithuania said they would restart administering the vaccine.

Many governments had said the decision to pause inoculations was out of an abundance of caution. But experts have warned political interference could undermine public confidence in vaccinations as governments struggle to tame more infectious virus variants.

“We trust that, after the regulators’ careful decisions, vaccinations can once again resume across Europe,” said AstraZeneca chief medical officer Ann Taylor in a statement.

The EMA’s review covered 20 million people given the AstraZeneca shot in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA), which links 30 European countries.

Safety concerns had led at least 13 European countries to stop administering the shot, slowing an already faltering inoculation campaign in the EU, which lags Britain and the United States.

It said it would investigate reports of clots in the cerebral veins (sinus vein thrombosis, or CSVT) occurring together with lowered platelets soon after vaccination. But the agency said use of the vaccine should continue and one official said Britain’s rollout would likely continue even if a link was proved.

The AstraZeneca shot was among the first and cheapest of the Covid-19 vaccines to be developed and launched at volume and is set to be the mainstay of vaccination programmes in much of the developing world.

“The EMA’s (verdict) now provides clarity about the safety of this vaccine, which should now be vaccinated at a high rate after this safety stop in order to efficiently prevent the actual risk, i.e. sometimes serious medical harm from Covid-19,” said Clemens Wendtner, head of infectious diseases at Munich clinic Schwabing.

The drugmaker’s own review covering more than 17 million people who have received its shot in the EU and Britain found no evidence of increased risk of blood clots.

The World Health Organisation this week also reaffirmed its support for the shot.

The EMA said it would update its guidance on the AstraZeneca vaccine to include an explanation for patients about the potential risks and information for healthcare professionals.

The agency said it is in touch with regulators around the world to keep tabs on possible side effects of all Covid-19 vaccines

Charlie munger: china success using poor people

lijor the great — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 17:35:59 +0800

[YOUTUBE]IJCTsKV7g4w[/YOUTUBE]

at 1:47

"In the whole history of the world no nation that big has ever advanced that fast. And they did it by having a bunch of poor people save half their income. They did not use the wealth of the rich to get ahead."

For those who dont know who Charlie is:

QUOTE

Charles Thomas Munger (born January 1, 1924) is an American billionaire investor, businessman, former real estate attorney, architectural designer, and philanthropist. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Munger as his partner. Munger served as chairman of Wesco Financial Corporation from 1984 through 2011. He is also chairman of the Daily Journal Corporation, based in Los Angeles, California, and a director of Costco Wholesale Corporation.

Norway health worker died after jab

lijor the great — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 14:44:45 +0800

https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2021/03/...astrazeneca-jab

OSLO: A health worker in Norway has died of a brain haemorrhage after receiving the AstraZeneca anti-Covid vaccine, though no direct link to the jab has been established, health authorities said on Monday.

This is the second such fatality within a few days in the Nordic country, which had suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution last Thursday.

On Saturday, Norway's health authorities said three health care employees had been hospitalised with blood clots, bleeding and abnormally low levels of platelets in the blood.

All of them were under 50, and all had received a first dose of the vaccine made by the Anglo-Swedish pharma group.

One of the three, described as a woman "in good health", died on Sunday after a brain haemorrhage, health authorities said. She had been hospitalised on Thursday, about a week after getting the jab.

"We can neither confirm nor exclude that it has something to do with the vaccine," an official from the Norwegian Medicines Agency, Steinar Madsen, told reporters.

The condition of the two others was reported to be stable.

Another health worker in her 30s also died on Friday in Norway, 10 days after receiving the same vaccine. Other deaths have also been reported in Europe, notably in Austria and Denmark.

The European Medicines Agency is currently investigating these deaths to see if there is a link to the vaccine.

On Friday, the World Health Organisation said there was "no indication to not use" the vaccine, while the manufacturer itself insisted it was safe.

According to Norwegian medical authorities, around 130,000 people had received the vaccine in Norway before it was suspended.

Among the other countries that have also suspended the vaccine for similar reasons are Denmark, Iceland, Bulgaria, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Germany.

The medicines agency in Denmark – the first country to suspend the use of the vaccine last Thursday after reporting a post-jab death – on Monday revealed that the victim was a 60-year-old woman who had suffered blood clots, low platelet levels and haemorrhages after receiving the vaccine.

The agency said it had informed people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine in the past two weeks to look out for symptoms such as unusual bruising, bleeding, and severe headaches or stomachaches.

About 150,000 people in Denmark have received one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 583 two doses. - AFP

How USA (california) relax SOPs

lijor the great — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 12:28:17 +0800

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/03/14/orang...red-tier-rules/
Orange County restaurants and movie theaters welcome customers back indoors under new red tier rules

Avid moviegoers trickled into Century Theaters at Bella Terra in Huntington Beach on Sunday, March 14, one of the only theaters in Orange County open the first day of more flexible red tier pandemic rules.

Huntington Beach resident Jeff Alexander was among them. He bought snacks and a drink before heading into an afternoon showing of sci-fi thriller “Chaos Walking.”

“I’m happy to be back,” he said. “I didn’t even care what I saw, just picked the first showing and I went.”

The last time Alexander went to the movies was the last night his local theaters were open last fall before closing ahead of the mounting winter COVID-19 surge.

In the interim, Alexander has had to make do watching new releases at home.

“I am looking forward to ‘Godzilla vs. Kong,’” he said. “That’s one you’ve got to see on the big screen.”

Some restaurants, gyms and movie theaters across Orange County shot out of the gates Sunday as other owners and managers prepared to bring back and retrain staff, replenish supplies and get the word out to customers that they are welcome indoors once again.

State public health officials announced Friday that California had met a 2 million vaccination goal in disproportionately impacted areas, meaning Orange County and some others – Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties included – with improving pandemic metrics would shift Sunday from the strictest purple tier of the state’s four-tier monitoring system to the more relaxed red tier.

Dance and yoga studios, aquariums, museums and zoos are also cleared to let visitors back indoors at 25% capacity under the red tier, while malls can raise indoor capacities from one-quarter to half.

Wineries, breweries and distilleries where food isn’t served can reopen outdoors in all counties this weekend, regardless of tier status, but with some restrictions: reservations are required, customers have a 90 minute time limit and service must end by 8 p.m.

Din Tai Fung at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa buzzed with lunchtime patrons Sunday as the popular dumpling restaurant spaced out tables in parts of its dining room. It also continued to seat diners in an outdoor patio and takeout orders flowed out of the kitchen.

Kaye Armosilla of Fullerton waited for an indoor reservation Sunday afternoon. Armosilla said she works in health care and has been vaccinated, “so I feel a little safer (eating inside).”

Elsewhere in the county, diners snapped up afternoon reservations at restaurants that were set for indoor service Sunday.

“We’re excited and grateful that we are allowed to open up the 25% and we’re praying that we can get to 50% real quick and then full blast after that,” said Peter Serantoni, the owner of Cha Cha’s Latin Kitchen restaurants in Brea and Irvine.

A group of family and friends gather to celebrate a 21st birthday at Cha Cha’s Latin Kitchen in Irvine on Sunday, March 14, 2021 after California announced the return of reduced capacity indoor dining and relax restrictions on breweries, wineries and distilleries.
“There’s supposed to be a vaccine for every adult by May,” Serantoni said. “So we’re hoping we can have a big celebration with a back-to-normal Cinco (de Mayo). That would be fantastic because we go all-out on Cinco de Mayo with a lot of specials, folklorico dancing and live mariachis – it’s a big to-do for us.”

But while some restaurants enthusiastically opened their doors on the first day of red tier status, others tempered their optimism that being able to seat customers indoors will turn everything around.

Chairs remained stacked on tables at El Mesquitito Grill, a small shop that serves up tacos, burritos and other Mexican fare in Costa Mesa.

Business has slumped in 2021 for manager Hector Lopez, who took over operations from a family member in November.

The pandemic’s sluggish economy and less government assistance for small businesses treading water later in the pandemic has been tougher on the bottom line more than the lack of indoor dining, Lopez said.

Lopez said he heard Saturday night that restaurants could let customers dine-on site starting Sunday, but he wasn’t in a rush to set up his tables and chairs again.

“This location is mostly to-go,” he said. “Hopefully (now) that we’re going to reopen, it’ll get better and better.”

Movie theaters in red tier counties could open indoor auditoriums Sunday at 25% capacity with six-foot gaps between masked groups. Two Century theaters, including the Bella Terra location in Huntington Beach, were selling reserved seating for showings of “Boogie,” “The Marksman” and “Tom & Jerry” starting Sunday afternoon, with time slots into the evening.

Another Huntington Beach resident, Alessia Vigna, was also among Orange County’s first moviegoers when she bought a ticket for “Chaos Walking” at Bella Terra Sunday afternoon.

“This is my favorite hobby,” Cigna said, adding that before the pandemic, she would see a movie every weekend.

Several AMC theaters are slated to reopen over the coming week – tickets are available at The Outlets at Orange for movies starting Monday and for other locations in Anaheim, Fullerton and Tustin starting Friday.

One Starlight Cinemas location in Garden Grove has opened sales for showtimes starting Friday. Two other locations in Anaheim and Costa Mesa on Sunday were not yet selling tickets for the week ahead.

It wasn’t clear when Regal Cinemas, with locations throughout Orange County, would reopen its doors.

The theater giant had announced widespread closures in early October – more than a month before indoors theaters in Orange County were forced to shutter once again amid a coronavirus resurgence – due to low ticket sales and postponed release dates for big-budget films.

In late February, Regal tweeted, in part: “Big movies are made for the big screen and once LA opens, we are confident in the studios holding their release dates for new movies, allowing us to reopen our theaters.”

Since August, the state has charted crucial coronavirus metrics in each country – case rates and shares of swab and spit tests returning positive – to determine what businesses and public places can reopen in counties and at what capacity.

Orange County previously enjoyed two months in the red tier from September to November during a relative lull between summer and winter pandemic peaks, meaning some coronavirus-curbing rules were relaxed.

Last week, all three of Orange County’s metrics dipped into red tier territory for the first time since fall, marking the half point in a qualifying period of two weeks to officially move to the easier-going red tier, per state tracking system guidelines.

But on Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that if the state hit it’s 2 million dose target for vaccine-strapped communities, the time frame for switching tiers would be shortened, allowing Orange County, with its case rate this week of 6 cases per day per 100,000 people, into the red tier a few days ahead of schedule.

Countywide testing positivity, at 3.2%, also approached lows seen during the fall slowdown. The health equity metric – which state officials began tracking in October to track test positivity in low-income areas where health care access is limited – has never been lower at 4.1%.

By Friday, nearly 11.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered statewide, and just under 2.02 million to residents of the 400 ZIP codes the state had targeted for its goal. They are the neighborhoods in the bottom fourth of the California Healthy Places Index, which aggregates economic, environmental and other factors, to give neighborhoods an overall public health score.

Newsom has set another marker: Once the state surpasses 4 million doses administered in the target ZIP codes – four of which are in Santa Ana, Anaheim and Garden Grove – the even less restrictive orange tier will be easier to reach with a case rate range of 2 to 5.9 cases per 100,000 residents.

“But we have quite a bit of work ahead to get from 2 million to 4 million doses,” California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said during a news conference Friday.

Orange County leaders, including Dr. Clayton Chau, OC Health Care Agency director and county health officer, are hoping the turning pandemic tide leads to a quick succession though less-restrictive tiers, as state guidelines allow.

Chau said this week that unless promising metric trends bottom out or reverse, Orange County could qualify for the next-best orange tier – and another round of softening rules – by mid-April.

Two of three metrics – countywide and health equity testing positivity – already have dropped to orange tier levels.

Lucy Dunn, chief executive of the Orange County Business Council, said this week there is a pent up demand for services, particularly for one of Orange County’s most important sectors: hospitality.

“It’s where people want to go and as vaccines become more prevalent and people feel a little bit more safe, even with all the health protocols, the pent up demand for hospitality is going to be huge,” Dunn said. “We’re all chomping at the bit to get out.”

She is optimistic the tightest pandemic restrictions are in the county’s rear view mirror for good.

“I don’t see us going back to the purple tier, as long as we move forward with vaccines, because every one of those vaccines are 100% effective against hospitalization and death,” said Dunn, who also serves on the county’s advisory vaccine task force. “That’s been the benchmark for shutting down the economy, is overwhelming a hospital system.”

The three essential parts needed to get the local economic engine running again in the short term, Dunn said, are reopening more business sectors in lower tiers, getting kids physically back in school (and their parents’ attention back on work) and to keep up masking and other coronavirus precautions until vaccines reach enough arms.

Staff writer Anne Valdespino contributed to this report.

New normal dining in is

lijor the great — Sun, 14 Mar 2021 20:34:44 +0800

Agree?

Rate my lunch

lijor the great — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 15:17:58 +0800

I believe - my sassy girl theme song

lijor the great — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 16:00:42 +0800

[YOUTUBE]uU02KEA7fZo[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]emT1cMbTlqk[/YOUTUBE]

Siapa masih rindu zaman ni?

Semua cari makan je

lijor the great — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:40:27 +0800

https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news...in-kuala-lumpur

QUOTE

MANY businesses in Kuala Lumpur’s city centre have either closed down or are on the verge of collapsing due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They include food establishments, retail shops and service industries.

Particularly hard hit are budget hotels, massage centres and reflexology outlets which have only been allowed to reopen on March 5 following the conditional movement control order.

In such circumstances, illicit activities like prostitution has reared their ugly head on an even larger scale than before.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) said syndicates are now offering prostitution services at establishments like budget hotels as well as massage and reflexology outlets.

Foreign women who have lost their jobs during the pandemic are willing to work in these places in exchange for food and shelter.

Survival mode

Salmah (not her real name) is a 25-year-old shampoo girl who lost her job when the country went into lockdown on March 18 last year.

The Indonesian national was working in a hair salon in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur when she was asked to leave due to the pandemic.

Attempts to find a similar position proved futile as hairdressers were one of the businesses that were not allowed to operate for a long time.

With no money for rent and food, Salmah turned to prostitution.

She was provided a room in a budget hotel with kitchen facilities, and in return, she sleeps with men and gets a small cut from her earnings.

Salmah is just one of hundreds of women, mostly foreigners, in a similar predicament.

The shutdown of Kuala Lumpur’s tourism sector has had an especially adverse impact on businesses and their employees are among the worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I am safe inside here.

“We get a room to sleep, a place to bathe and food to eat. If I was out there, I would be alone and may get Covid-19, ’’ Salmah told StarMetro.

Vice task force

Statistics showed that in the first two months of the year, 22 outlets, including massage parlours, reflexology centres, and budget hotels were shut down by a special task force from DBKL’s Enforcement Department.

Task force enforcement and investigation head Mohd Hisham Izhar, who leads a team of 60 personnel, said since last year, some 100 businesses have had their licences cancelled by DBKL for flouting various regulations.

The raids were conducted under the Local Government Act 1976, Hotels (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) Act 2003 and Licensing of Trades, Businesses and Industries (FTKL) by-law 2016.

“From our investigations, the operation (prostitution) is carried out by foreigners while the establishments belong to locals.

“Most of the establishments are massage parlours, reflexology centres and budget hotels, ’’ he added.

Mohd Hisham said in the case of budget hotels, it would have a standard frontage and lobby area.

But on the inside, the rooms resemble private sleeping quarters, complete with stove and kitchen utensils.

“It is clear that the women live and work on the premises, ’’ he said.

In some budget hotels they raided, at least half of the rooms were allocated for illicit activities.

Foreigners dominate

Mohd Hisham said the task force would carry out covert operations by having personnel go undercover as customers.

“Usually before a raid is carried out, our officers in plainclothes would monitor the site for one to two weeks, ’’ he said.

They discovered that the syndicates use apps like WeChat, Michat and WhatsApp to offer prostitutes who are mostly from Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“They charge about RM170 (per hour) with the women getting a 30% cut.”

Mohd Hisham said 70% of customers are foreigners, mostly from Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India.

The men and women caught would be handed over to police and immigration for further action while DBKL would confiscate the illegal items and seal the premises.

Asked if the pandemic had caused businesses to flout the rules, Mohd Hisham said: “Not entirely. The sex trade has been around for a long time, but there is a shift in the timing of their activities.”

“Unlike previously when the peak time was after midnight, now it’s occurring in the afternoon particularly after 2pm, ’’ he said.

Mohd Hisham said when interviewed, the women claimed to have no other means to survive.

Escaping detection

Meanwhile, Malaysia Budget Hotel Association (MyBHA), Kuala Lumpur chapter president Kenneth Oh said sex for sale is prevalent not just in budget hotels but big establishments too.

“It has been happening since before the pandemic. Most budget hotels do not want to risk their licences getting revoked by DBKL so they try not to get involved in illegal activities, ’’ he said.

Oh opined that some sex-for- sale syndicates are moving from hotel to hotel to avoid detection.

But he acknowledges that if half of the hotel rooms are being used for illicit activities, chances are the management is aware of what’s going on.

“We are open to working with the authorities, ’’ he said, adding that the association has always told members not to allow their premises to be used for illegal activities.

MyBHA has over 200 members and the occupancy rate of many is hovering around 10% due to the second movement control order.

“We need at least 60% occupancy to break even. Many budget hotels are on the verge of closing down or have temporarily closed.

“We need a special task force to handle the tourism industry. Otherwise more people will be laid off if there are no solutions to save the business.

“This will only push many who are out of a job to desperation and criminal cases will increase, ’’ added Oh.