KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health (MOH) is advising the secretariat or volunteers of temporary relief centres (PPS) to carry out RTK Ag self-test on every individual and isolate the positive cases as soon as possible.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said district health offices should be informed by contacting the hotline provided so that detection of close contacts could be conducted as soon as possible.

“MOH understands if public health standard operating procedures (SOP) could not be fully complied with, in times of saving lives, but hopes all individuals whether they are flood victims, volunteers or rescue personnel would comply with the SOP as much as possible to curb the spread of Covid-19 infection.

“MOH will continue to monitor Covid-19 transmissions at PPS and will carry out risk assessment from time to time,” he said in a statement here.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was earlier reported as saying a spike in Covid-19 cases could take place if public health compliance is not fully implemented during floods.

Dr Noor Hisham said at the same time, MOH had provided a medical team at PPS with basic medical supplies, disinfectants and face masks for flood victims.

According to him, Covid-19 screening was also conducted on flood victims before entering PPS to detect infections.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said 72 health facilities were affected by the floods, with 43 in Pahang, 20 in Selangor, eight in Kelantan and one in Negri Sembilan.

He said from the total, eight facilities were cut-off but are still operating, and 21 facilities could not operate, with 20 in Selangor and one in Negri Sembilan.

Dr Noor Hisham also said so far, no acute gastroenteritis (AGE), typhoid, cholera, as well as hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), leptospirosis, dengue or other infectious diseases were reported among flood victims.

“As at noon, 78 flood victims have been inspected and given outpatient treatment at PPS. Of the total, 13 cases were with infectious diseases, five acute respiratory infections (ARI) cases, eight skin infections and 65 non-infectious diseases,” he said. – Bernama