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PETALING JAYA: Residents of Medan 88 in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi who fled the area before it entered the enhanced motion control order must come forward for Covid-19 screening, Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said.
The director general of Health said it was better for residents to be evaluated by the Ministry of Health for free, rather than taking a private examination.
“If they themselves undergo screening, they may have to pay a fee of at least RM300, when this cost could have been borne by the Ministry of Health,” he said yesterday at a Covid-19 press conference.
Dr. Noor Hisham also said authorities cannot announce too early whether an area will be placed under an improved MCO as residents can leave the area after the announcement is made.
“However, the announcement was made (in advance) because there may be people who were staying in the hotels there and then they can be trapped for 14 days,” he said when answering a question about why the authorities have chosen to announce the areas to be placed under improved OLS prior to sealing the area with barbed wire.
He also noted that the area has many foreign workers and that residents who had fled the area were likely illegal immigrants.
Dr. Noor Hisham also said that the ministry will continually improve methods for active case detection.
Citing one example, he said that those returning to Kelantan from the Klang Valley with a permit must wear different colored wristbands for identification.
“The use of the wristband is mandatory with the orange band for those who have to undergo a 14-day home quarantine, while the green band is for those who travel to attend meetings and business matters.
“They are not allowed to travel anywhere else,” he said.
He also noted that the ministry’s concern over the increase in cases in the Klang Valley warranted stronger and more active tracking.
“Our concern is the high population density and the frequent movement of people from one place to another.
“For example, those who leave the red zones of Sabah to other places have to go to get tested.
“But for the red zones in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, we cannot control six million people coming and going.
“Those who are infected will spread the disease when they go to green areas,” he said, adding that the conditional MCO was put in place to limit travel.
Dr. Noor Hisham noted that states with improved situations can see the conditional MCO, which is until December 6, which ends earlier.
“Although it is in place for a month, we will review it after two weeks.
“States like Kedah, Perak, Melaka and Johor, if there is good progress there, maybe we will finish the conditional MCO sooner,” he said.
Malaysia registered 919 new cases of Covid-19 yesterday, with one more death, a 66-year-old man from Sabah.
Sabah saw 319 new infections, while Negri Sembilan and Klang Valley each saw 240 new cases and 224 new cases, respectively.
996 recoveries were recorded, although 92 people were treated in intensive care units, and 35 required respiratory assistance.
Dr. Noor Hisham also said that three groups have ended up in Sabah, Kedah and Penang, while a new group, the Teluk group, was identified in Sabah.
Meanwhile, he also reminded Malaysians to watch out for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in conjunction with tomorrow’s World Diabetes Day, which also falls on Deepavali.
He said that nurses play an important role in the prevention, detection, treatment and recovery of diabetes.
“As we fight Covid-19, we must remember that NCDs must also be controlled,” he said, adding that 3.8 million Malaysians are diabetic.
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