Ministry may place mild cases at home or in hotels

 

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah says Covid-19 Low-Risk Patient Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRCs) were ‘nearly full’.

PUTRAJAYA: Asymptomatic patients and those with mild Covid-19 symptoms may soon be able to get themeselves quarantined at home, or even at hotels if they can afford it.

The health ministry is mulling this move as public hospitals are reaching their full capacity.

As Covid-19 Low-Risk Patient Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRCs) were “nearly full”, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there was a delay in transferring these patients from their homes to the centres.

“We are now looking at the possibility of either placing them at home or in quarantine centres where international travellers entering Malaysia are quarantined.

“We will consider placing the local positive cases there, especially if they can afford to pay for the lodging at the hotels,” he said in a press conference today.

He added that the PKRCs would then be reserved for migrant workers who are unable to isolate themselves at their workplaces.

Noor Hisham also addressed complaints from patients on the lacklustre service in hospitals and quarantine centres, saying it was inevitable for the quality of care to drop with the increase in patient load.

“These are very challenging times for the health ministry as it manages the large number of patients. But we’re not doing it on our own, we’re working closely with the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), National Security Council (MKN) and others.

“Our concern is in the increasing number of cases now. The healthcare system is under pressure. Today, we see the number of patients in intensive care increasing, as well as patients on ventilators.

“We need to open up more wards and ICU beds and also to look into our logistics, in terms of human resources, in order to manage our patients,” he added. - FMT