By Ida Nadirah Ibrahim
SHAH ALAM, May 17 — A total of 150 volunteers will be stationed at the Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CACs) in Selangor, especially at the Malawati Stadium CAC in the Petaling district, to ease its operations, says Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari.
The Selangor Menteri Besar said the move is part of the initiatives outlined by the state administration to facilitate the operations and reduce the burden of the CACs, such as setting up a calling centre that will be run by health volunteers to conduct home assessments of coronavirus patients.
“The 150 volunteers will include civil servants, local council enforcement officers, Selcare health workers and medical students from private universities, who will facilitate the management of traffic and Covid-19 patients as well as their assessments.
“The state government will also set up special counters for those who come to the Malawati Stadium CAC to either have their quarantine wristbands removed or to end home quarantine so that it would ease congestion and at the same reduce the risk of infection for those who have ended their quarantine period,” said Amirudin in a statement today, citing that 48 per cent people visiting the Malawati Stadium CAC were for the two reasons mentioned.
He said several other facilities have also been improved at the Malawati Stadium CAC such as putting up 20 tents equipped with fans, chairs, and a public address system (PA system) for the comfort of the people.
Amirudin said the efforts outlined were decided during the State Security Council Committee, which includes utilising private clinics and medical facilities equipped with medical practitioners that are allowed to implement the Home Surveillance Order (HSO), adding that 65 general practitioners in Selangor are authorised to do so.
“This would authorise them (general practitioners) to put the quarantine wristbands on those who are Covid-19 close contacts, and would therefore reduce the workload at the district CACs,” said Amirudin.
He said the list of the private health facilities involved will be informed later.
Meanwhile, Amirudin said that the Selangor State Health Department (JKNS) has informed 300 hospital beds will be added as well as the upgrade of facilities of the Intensive Care Units (ICU) in the state, while 1,300 additional beds will be provided for the Covid-19 low-risk quarantine centre at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) in Serdang.
“The centre at MAEPS will also be dedicated to only treating patients from Selangor and Kuala Lumpur following the (Federal government’s) decision to set up low-risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC) in several other states such as Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang and Johor.
“The state government will continue monitoring the Covid-19 situation in Selangor and will execute proactive measures within our capacity to manage the spread of the outbreak,” he added.
Yesterday, Amirudin said the Selangor administration is readily prepared to help the JKNS in the battle against Covid-19 in terms of providing volunteers and facilities.
He had also urged the public to visit the available CACs in their respective districts to avoid overcrowding at the Malawati Stadium CAC as several Covid-19 patients visiting the centre were found to be from outside of Selangor, causing the crowdedness and delay in delay in waiting time.
The Malawati Stadium has been operating as a CAC for the Petaling district since February 8, with a capacity to assess between 1,000 and 1,200 patients daily.
Apart from the Malawati Stadium, there are also CACs operating in the other eight Selangor districts — Klang, Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam, Gombak, Hulu Selangor, Hulu Langat, Sepang and Kuala Langat.
