KUALA LUMPUR: Should the location of any Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CACs) is not proper or deemed unsuitable, the Health Ministry will re-access the placement to ensure Covid-19 is contained appropriately, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin (pix) told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to Datuk Dr Hasan Bahrom (PH-Tampin) who questioned whether the ministry has a set of standard of operating procedures (SOPs) when choosing a location to set up CACs.
Hasan then gave an example of the previous CAC at Taman Sri Andalas which was moved to Port Klang last July which caused a massive congestion since it was situated close to a residential area and was next to a mosque.
Khairy said the selection of the CAC location is based on three factors - infection, prevention and control - to ensure that the patients and the healthcare workers do not spread the virus.
“I will check if the placement of the CAC is not suitable so that we will be able to find a new location,“ he said.
To date, he said there are 209 Covid-19 CACs nationwide since January this year, with at least one located in each district.
But the number of CACs will increase or decrease, depending on the number of cases in the area.
He also pointed out that the ministry is working to reduce the number of brought-in-dead (BID) cases by empowering community leaders to be proactive so that when there are individuals showing Covid-19 symptoms in their community, these leaders could bring them to CACs to get assessed the soonest.
Khairy added the ministry has established virtual CACs in Klang Valley which have proved effective by showing a reduction in the attendance of Covid-19 patients at the physical CACs.
“Covid-19 patients in category 1 and 2 with mild symptoms in Greater Klang Valley are now being monitored virtually by the MoH medical team. So patients with greater symptoms go to a physical CAC to get accessed,“ he said.
Efforts are underway to establish virtual CACs in other states to address the increase of Covid-19 patients nationwide.
