KUALA LUMPUR: A targeted vaccination exercise, increased screening and implementing virtual surveillance for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients in the Greater Klang Valley are among the Health Ministry's robust measures to combat the coronavirus.
Professor Datuk Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman from Universiti Malaya lauded the ministry's move to activate the virtual Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CAC) for Greater Klang Valley as a timely response to mitigate bottlenecks on healthcare facilities.
"Previously, infected individuals needed to visit the CACs physically for quarantine assessment, which has led to overcrowding and congestion. Now, they will be assessed virtually.
"By isolating asymptomatic cases at home, we can also reduce bed utilisation in hospitals and quarantine centres, and remobilise the resources and manpower to treat severe cases.
"The ministry has also released guidelines for individuals under home quarantine to exercise self-care during the isolation period," she told the New Straits Times.
Dr Adeeba said the implementation of the Digital Home Surveillance Order (HSO), which no longer requires home quarantine patients to wear pink wristbands, could further curb the spread of Covid-19.
This, she said, was because individuals previously had to travel to CACs to remove their pink wristbands after recovery.
"A robust remote monitoring system is vital for individuals under home quarantine, especially to reduce brought-in-dead (BID) cases.
"Generally, about 20 per cent of infected individuals usually progress to more severe stages over time and therefore, we need proper monitoring.
"In this regard, the task force is looking into how general practitioners can be roped in to provide support for patients under home surveillance.
"Meanwhile, the clinical care sub-committee is working on creating more beds and facilities for severe Covid-19 patients, including through decanting non-Covid patients to private hospitals."
Citing Sarawak and Labuan, Dr Adeeba also stressed the urgent need to expedite the vaccination drive nationwide to stem the virus transmission.
"Sarawak and Labuan have seen a dip in new daily cases following an increase in the vaccination drive.
"States like Selangor, Penang and Melaka, which are witnessing a surge in cases, must act fast and accelerate vaccination to reduce the infection rate." Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar praised the ministry for a more detailed reporting of daily Covid-19 cases.
The new reporting style, he said, included the breakdown of cases according to categories of infection and the number of unvaccinated cases.
"The government should also train more community support groups, establish 24/7 call centres for patients under home quarantine and provide tools such as oximeters and saliva test kits for them to conduct self-assessment at home."
Universiti Putra Malaysia epidemiology and biostatistics expert Associate Professor Dr Malina Osman praised the Health Ministry for its targeted vaccination exercise after screening in the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) areas.
"Those who tested negative after screening were immediately given their vaccine as what had been done at Mentari Court Apartment.
"This effort should be extended to other EMCO areas as well so that we can avoid any possibility of repeated EMCO or repeated contact tracings."
Dr Malina also lauded the move to introduce Covid-19 self-test kits (using saliva) for screening and Operation Surge Capacity, which she said should be extended to states like Kedah, Johor, Kelantan and Sabah.
She also commended the efforts to empower all general practitioners to help in vaccinating the public, as well as managing Covid-19 patients.
Universiti Malaya Occupational and Public Health Expert Professor Dr Victor Hoe said healthcare workers around the country had been working very hard for the past 18 months to manage the Covid-19 pandemic.
"It is important that we first recognise the sacrifices of those hard-working healthcare workers before we discuss the achievement of the ministry.
"All the efforts that the Health Ministry had been doing are commendable. We need to understand that the Health Ministry is just one ministry and it alone is not enough to control the pandemic.
"Another measure worth mentioning would be the introduction of the MySejahtera application.
"This multifunctional app has been effective for contact tracing, notification, vaccination and now it is even being used for isolation and quarantine (under the Virtual Covid-19 Assessment Centres)."
Dr Hoe also lauded the move to set up the Integrated Patient Quarantine and Treatment Centre at MAEPS, which can house patients from Category One to Four, with negative pressure tents and Intensive Care Unit wards.
Yesterday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the government had adopted a whole-of-government and a whole-of society approach to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
This approach, he said, comprised 17 key initiatives, which included increasing Covid-19 screening, repurposing more spaces into Covid-19 treatment facilities and decanting non-Covid patients to private hospitals.