Dear Diary,
The morning began with some great news for Liverpool fans as Jurgen Klopp, Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold were voted BBC’s English Premier League’s (EPL) manager, player and young player of the season.
But there is still no news as to when or if the EPL will resume.
Something else still unknown is whether the Movement Control Order (MCO) will be extended beyond May 12 – which is just four days away.
Meanwhile, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof has accepted a motion by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
on a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
But the Speaker didn’t specify if it would be tabled on May 18 when Parliament meets for a day.
Here’s how Day 52 of MCO unfolded.
6.32am: LA LIGA RETURNING – A day after the Bundesliga says it will resume this month, La Liga announces a June 20 restart.
7.45am: SEVEN RED – Henderson, Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Andy Robertson, Virgil Van Dijk, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are in the BBC Sport Team of the Season.
Tottenham striker Son Heung-min was named one of the top five recruits in his unit as he finished three weeks of compulsory military training in South Korea – and he didn’t even miss a game!
8.51am: VIRUS SHOTS? – US judge orders reopening of Massachusetts gun stores. Are they going to shoot the coronavirus? For the record, there were 2,448 more deaths in the US in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 75,543 from 1,254,750 cases.
10am: GOOD QUESTION – Got this on WhatsApp.
11pm: HOW DID THEY KNOW THIS? – Researchers in China have found coronavirus in the semen of Covid-19 patients.
Noon: DON’T MESS WITH ’EM – Mixed martial artist Jihn ‘Shadow Cat’ Radzuan and other female ONE Championship fighters in a playful mood.
1.06pm: BOOST FOR START-UPS – The Finance Ministry allocates RM100 million for Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd to fund the Technology Start-up Funding Relief Facility to assist technology start-ups affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
2pm: NO DISCUSSION? – We have four days until MCO is supposed to end, yet Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob doesn’t know if it will be extended.
He also reveals:
- Public transport vehicles and motorcycles can make interstate travel if they have permits and only on the allocated days.
- Employees must obtain letters from their companies if they need to travel interstate for work.
- All foreign security guards must undergo a swab test for Covid-19.
- Businesses cannot bar customers who aren’t wearing masks. However, the government encourages the public to don face masks as a matter of self-protection. He suggests businesses sell masks at their entrance.
2.09pm: HOPE FOR HOMELESS – Vagrants and the homeless will be given training via Federal Territories’ Career Preparation and Interview Programme.
3.03pm: WORKING WELL – Former colleague and Twentytwo13 reader Rizal Solomon was at 1Utama and says there are good social distancing measures and no dine-ins at restaurants. He estimates a quarter of the shops have yet to open.
4.40pm: TWO DAYS OF GOOD NEWS – For the second day running, there were no deaths so it remains at 107. Another 88 patients were discharged, meaning 4,864 have been cured. There are 68 new cases, making it 6,535.
5.30pm: PAIN IN THE BUTT – Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May landed in the hospital after he tore his butt muscles “to shreds” while gardening! While Freddie Mercury sang the majority of the band’s songs, May was no slouch in the vocals department. Here’s his number called 39 from A Night At The Opera album.
