COVID-19 epidemic in Malaysia started as a small wave of 22 cases in January 2020 through imported cases. It was followed by a bigger wave mainly from local transmissions resulting in 651 cases. The following wave saw unexpectedly three digit number of daily cases following a mass gathering urged the government to choose a more stringent measure. A limited lock-down approach called Movement Control Order (MCO) was immediately initiated to the whole country as a way to suppress the epidemic trajectory. The lock-down causes a major socio-economic disruption thus the ability to forecast the infection dynamic is urgently required to assist the government on timely decisions. Limited testing capacity and limited epidemiological data complicate the understanding of the future infection dynamic of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Background: In this work, we presented a Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) epidemiological model of COVID-19 epidemic in Malaysia post- and pre-Movement Control Order (MCO). The proposed SIR model was fitted to confirmed COVID-19 cases from the official press statements to closely reflect the observed epidemic trend in Malaysia. The proposed model is aimed to provide an accurate predictive information for decision makers in assessing the public health and social measures related to COVID-19 epidemic. Methods: The SIR model was fitted to the data by minimizing a weighted loss function; the sum of the residual sum of squares (RSS) of infected, removed and total cases. Optimized beta (β), gamma (γ) parameter values and the starting value of susceptible individuals (N) were obtained. Results: The SIR model post-MCO indicates the peak of infection on 10 April 2020, less than 100 active cases by 8 July 2020, less than 10 active cases by 29 August 2020, and close to zero daily new case by 22 July 2020, with a total of 6562 infected cases. In the absence of MCO, the model predicts the peak of infection on 1 May 2020, less than 100 active cases by 14 February 2021, less than 10 active cases by 26 April 2021 and close to zero daily new case by 6 October 2020, with a total of 1.6 million infected cases. Conclusion: The results suggest that the present MCO has significantly reduced the number of susceptible population and the total number of infected cases. The method to fit the SIR model used in this study was found to be accurate in reflecting the observed data. The method can be used to predict the epidemic trend of COVID-19 in other countries.

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Purpose: Research on work ethics has acquired considerable scholars’ attention. Research on employees’ religion-oriented ethics, particularly Islamic Work Ethics (IWE), has remained relatively narrow in healthcare settings. This study aims to develop and validate a scale to measure Healthcare Providers (HCPs) IWE in Emergency Departments (EDs). Design/methodology/approach: This study was conducted on HCPs who work at EDs in Jordan. The scale goes through a series of validation processes, including content validity, face validity, and construct validity. This study employed exploratory factor analysis for construct validity and Cronbach’s alpha for reliability analysis. Findings: Exploratory factor analysis yielded 17 strong explanatory items on a three-dimension scale, namely obligation of HCP to their patients, obligation of supervisors to their subordinates and obligation of HCP to their colleagues. Conclusion: The findings of this study provide a valid and reliable scale that had a satisfactory psychometric property for measuring Healthcare Providers’ IWE in EDs.

The year 2020 saw the emergence of a novel coronavirus—the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2— which has led to an unprecedented pandemic that has shaken the entire world. The pandemic has been a new experience for Malaysia, especially during the implementation of large-scale public health and social measures called the Movement Control Order (MCO). This paper seeks to describe the experiences of the Malaysian healthcare system thus far in combatting the pandemic. The Malaysian healthcare system comprises two main arms: public health and medicine. The public health arm focuses on early disease detection, contact tracing, quarantines, the MCO, and risk stratification strategies in the community. The medical arm focuses on the clinical management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients; it encompasses laboratory services, the devising of clinical setting adjustments, and hospital management for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. Malaysia experienced intense emotions at the beginning of the pandemic, with great uncertainty regarding the pandemic’s outcome, as the world saw a frighteningly high COVID-19 mortality. As of writing (May 30, 2020), Malaysia has passed the peak of its second wave of infections. The experience thus far has helped in preparing the country’s healthcare system to be vigilant and more prepared for future COVID-19 waves. To date, the pandemic has changed many aspects of Malaysia’s life, and people are still learning to adapt to new norms in their lives.

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Purpose: Islamic work ethics (IWE) has been an area of attraction for scholars exploring Muslim employees’ attitudes and behaviors. This study aims to examine the IWE of healthcare providers (HCPs) in Jordan’s public and private emergency departments, and test the influence of socio-demographic factors and hospital type on IWE. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was used. Data were collected from the HCPs in Jordan middle district hospitals using a selfadministered questionnaire. In total, 297 questionnaires were completed and returned for analysis. Descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and independent sample t-test were used to analyze the data. Findings: The HCPs in private EDs showed a higher commitment to IWE than public EDs HCPs, and statistical differences were found between the public and private EDs. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that socio-demographic factors (age, gender, income level, professional classification, and social status) do not significantly influence IWE. Only the hospital type has a significant negative influence on IWE. Conclusion: HCPs in private EDs showed a high level of commitment to IWE than public HCPs. Statistical differences were discovered between the public and private EDs. The regression analysis showed no effect of socio-demographic factors on the IWE. Originality/Significance: This is perhaps the first paper investigating the influence of socio-demographic factors and hospital type on IWE of HCPs at EDs in Jordan. Research Limitations/Implications: This paper was limited to HCPs working in eleven hospitals in Jordan’s middle district. The study’s findings were based on the respondents’ honesty and truthfulness when taking the questionnaire. Implications for research have also been discussed.

The acceptance of COVID-19 control and preventive measures by the Malaysian public is crucial as Malaysia moves toward a safer endemic phase. Our study aimed to develop and validate a new tool to measure the knowledge, attitude, and practice of COVID-19 control and preventive measures among adults in Terengganu, Malaysia. A questionnaire was developed through theoretical research and expert consultations. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 670 staff and students of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu recruited by convenient sampling.  Validity and reliability were analysed. The validity of the knowledge domain was determined through Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis which revealed 26 items derived from six categories: etiology, symptoms, mode of transmission, risk factor for infection, and high-risk group. The construct validity of the attitude domain was determined through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) revealed 34 items that lead to seven factors: fear, responsibility, movement restriction, information, quarantine, screening, medium for information. Construct validity of the practice domain revealed 16 items that loaded to three factors: hand washing, movement restriction and mask-wearing. Among the key findings of this study was high level of knowledge of respondents regarding specific situations and activities and respondents agreed that the most effective way to receive information was via television casting. The questionnaire was shown to have satisfying psychometric properties and can be used as a tool in future research in public knowledge, attitude and practice to control and prevent COVID-19.