Millions of Bangladeshi Children Missed Their Scheduled Vaccination Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

The Government of Bangladesh imposed a movement control order as a mass quarantine strategy to control the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Adherence to the home quarantine may put children at risk by missing routine vaccination. In this study, we investigated the impact of COVID-19 on child routine immunization in a rural area of Bangladesh and consider the broader implications. Data for this study comes from the Chakaria Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) of icddr,b with a population of 90,000 people residing in 16,000 households in 49 villages in a rural, coastal area of Southeast Bangladesh. We used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design which involved two phases between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020: first, we observed 258 outreach sessions of 86 EPI centers. We calculated the number of Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) outreach sessions suspended and the number of children who missed their routine vaccination due to the COVID-19. We extrapolated the number of Bangladeshi children who missed their routine vaccination using Chakaria HDSS observations. Secondly, we conducted in-depth interviews to explain the quantitative results. The EPI outreach session (EOS) declined to 74.42% (95% CI 63.97–83.22), 10.45% (95% CI 5.00–18.94), and 3.45% (95% CI 1.00–9.75) from 2019 levels in March, April, and May 2020, respectively. By extrapolation, in Bangladesh, between March and May 2020, 3.2 million children missed their scheduled vaccination compared to 2019. Results from in-depth interviews showed that the unwillingness of villagers to hold EOS and the absenteeism of the vaccinators due to social distancing recommendations and lack of personal safety measures were the main reasons for the discontinuation of the EOS. Resuming EPI outreach sessions and introducing a special catch-up program is essential to prevent future outbreaks and deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases in Bangladesh and the countries where children missed their routine vaccination due to COVID-19. This health system failure should be considered a factor in all future pandemic preparedness plans.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Maternal Psychological Wellbeing During the Malaysian Movement Control Order: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in nationwide lockdown as a disease control measure. Potential harm to self and baby due to COVID-19 infection as well as uncertainties about delivery are among contributors to maternal anxiety. We aimed to assess the prevalence of psychological distress among pregnant women during the Malaysian Movement Control Order (MCO).Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and June 2020 in a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A self-administered electronic questionnaire was distributed which included the following; (1) Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS 21), (2) Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), (3) MCO effect questionnaire, and (4) newly designed COVID-19 pregnancy-related anxiety. Chi-square test and logistic regression were performed to determine significant associations whilst mean scores comparison were conducted through Mann-Whitney-U-test.Results: Four hundred and fifteen women were included in the final analysis. The prevalence of psychological distress among our cohort was 14.7%; with a two-fold increase of risk among the non-Malays (AOR 1.98, 95% CI 1.00–3.89) whilst a greater number of social support showed a protective effect (AOR 0.51, 95%CI 0.28–0.92). Malay ethnicity (p < 0.001) alongside greater household income (p = 0.014) were positive predictors of a higher sense of maternal wellbeing. Multiparous women and those of higher economic status experienced the more negative effect of the MCO. Around 88% of our women reported a higher level of COVID-19 pregnancy-related anxiety. Younger (p = 0.017) and first-time mothers (p = 0.039) were more likely to be anxious. Although adequate maternal knowledge on COVID-19 was associated with a greater sense of maternal wellbeing (p = 0.028), it was also linked to a higher level of COVID-19 related anxiety (AOR 3.54, 95% 1.29–9.70).Conclusion: There was a relatively low prevalence of psychological distress among expectant mothers in Malaysia during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Expectant mothers should receive accurate and reliable information on the effect of COVID-19 on pregnancy to relieve some maternal anxiety. Maternal health screening is important to identify individuals who would benefit from extra support and mental health intervention, especially in prolonged lockdown.

Balancing earliness and tardiness within workload control order release: an assessment by simulation

Most Workload Control literature assumes that delivery performance is determined by tardiness related performance measures only. While this may be true for companies that directly deliver to end-customers, for make-to-stock companies or firms that are part of supply chains, producing early often means large inventories in the finished goods warehouse or penalties incurred by companies downstream in the supply chain. Some earlier Workload Control studies used a so-called time limit, which constrains the set of jobs that can be considered for order release, to reduce earliness. However, recent literature largely abandoned the time limit since it negatively impacts tardiness performance. This study revisits the time limit, assessing the use of different adaptive policies that restrict its use to periods of either low or high load. By using a simulation model of a pure job shop, the study shows that an adaptive policy allows to balance the contradictory objectives of delaying the release of orders to reduce earliness and to release orders early to respond to periods of high load as quick as possible. Meanwhile, only using a time limit in periods of high load was found to be the best policy.

APLIKASI PEMBELAJARAN ABAD KE-21 DALAM TALIAN: CABARAN GURU PENDIDIKAN MORAL [21ST CENTURY ONLINE LEARNING APPLICATIONS: THE CHALLENGE OF MORAL EDUCATION TEACHERS]

The Covid-19 pandemic phenomenon has unfolded in Malaysia since 2020, it has brought far-reaching changes to all aspects of society includes education. Due to the Movement Control Order (PKP), educational institutions in Malaysia were ordered to close, student started fully learning online from home. This situation has become a challenge to the implementation of the 21st Century learning approach inteaching. As this fully online teaching and learning are happening for the first time in Malaysian education, this study aims to explore the challenges faced by Malaysian Moral Education teachers on the implementation of the 21st Century skill in an online classroom. This study uses a qualitative method by interviewing 5 Moral Education teachers as respondents. The findings of this study show that the change of online teaching and learning has caused unexpected challenges to Moral Education teachers, the traditional teaching techniques which have been applied in face-to-face classrooms are not effective when moving to online teaching and learning. To achieve the objectives of Moral Education which involve aspects of cognition, feeling, and action, the factors of internet access at home, cooperation from the parents, and the teacher’s skill of using technology need to be considered.

Pro-Bono Virtual Legal Clinics for Enhancement of Social Impact by Communities Affected by COVID-19

The right to legal advice is an essential entitlement and an imperative step toward effective enjoyment of other fundamental rights, especially to the communities which have limited access to legal opinions due to scarce financial means. Global communities are adversely affected, particularly in relation to employment, domestic violence, and financial hardships during this pandemic. This pro-bono virtual legal clinics project is instrumental in enhancing social impact by ensuring that communities continuously have better access to quality legal advice and information during the COVID-19 Movement Control Order through multiple social networking tools and meaningful collaborations with NGOs.

The effects of digital marketing implementation on online consumer in Selangor during COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant changes in many aspects especially towards small medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) as many of SMEs need to shut down their business due to movement control order (MCO) conducted by Malaysia government as SMEs cannot reach their customers. Previous studies show that having an effective digital marketing strategy in place might leave businesses vulnerable to severe setbacks towards SMEs. This research proposal aims to carry out and prove the possible potential effects and factors that influence digital marketing implementation towards online consumers in Selangor during COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology of this paper uses a descriptive qualitative approach by analyzing various previous literature on digital marketing scope of study. The sample size of the study is 235 respondents who were selected based on convenience sampling. The finding has discovered that there is a significant relationship between customer loyalty with implementation of digital marketing towards online consumers in Selangor during COVID-19 pandemic and there is a significance relationship between brand awareness and the implementation of digital marketing towards online consumer in Selangor during COVID-19 pandemic.

The Impact of Movement Control Order on Rural Livelihood in Malaysia

In 2020, the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) had a global impact on normal daily life. The Government of Malaysia officially declared the Movement Control Order (MCO), an official national lockdown, to reduce the virus’s spread. In the face of the unprecedented global health pandemic, Malaysia had struggled to protect its citizens’ welfare and livelihoods, particularly in the hardest-hit rural areas. Therefore, this study uses the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) focusing on the aspect of financial assets and government intervention to enhance understanding on the vulnerability in rural area’s livelihood. Pasir Puteh, Kelantan was identified as the rural area for this study. The analysis was performed on a questionnaire survey based on convenience sampling of 62 respondents. Cross table analysis and a correlation test were used to examine the livelihood of the rural area concerning the financial assets, government intervention and vulnerability. The findings indicated that the MCO had a substantial impact on the rural area regarding the vulnerability toward the financial assets, such as employment status, job loss, increasing living costs, and an insufficient response to rural economic challenges. At the same time, there is no substantial government intervention in the welfare of rural areas. According to the results, the study concluded that the government should set up training courses to assist in the long-term recovery of rural areas due to the enforced lockdown, which has adversely affected rural livelihoods.

An Overview on COVID-19 and its Impact on Migration in Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected countries all over the world. Many countries have imposed restrictive measures, such as lockdowns, shelter-in-place, and stay-at-home orders, as an attempt to control the pandemic at a local level. However, these measures also hit the economy hard. This paper predicts the impact of COVID-19 on migration in Malaysia based on the experience during the Asian Financial Crisis. Migrant workers contribute a large portion of the labour market in Malaysia. Thousands of migrant workers are affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, the implementation and re-imposition of multiple phases of Movement Control Order (MCO) which worsened the economy. Therefore, there is a need to review the possible effect of COVID-19 on migration as it would greatly affect the labour market and the economy as a whole.