Covid 19: 1,000 housemen to assist in gov't hospitals

CORONAVIRUS | The Ministry of Health (MOH) will station 1,000 housemen at government hospitals nationwide to help smoothen the day-to-day operations following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said all the trainee doctors would undergo a five-day induction training starting from Monday including handling of Covid-19 elements.

Their immediate stationing at the hospitals is to relieve the burden of existing doctors who are focusing their attention on Covid-19 cases.

"They (trainees) have to undergo an induction course and we (MOH) will provide them with skills pertaining to Covid-19 elements before they enter the MOH system," he told reporters after hearing a briefing on the Covid-19 situation at Permai Hospital, here, today.

Also present were Johor Health and Environment Committee chairperson R Vidyananthan and Johor Health director Dr Aman Rabu.

On the tabligh members who attended a gathering at the Sri Petaling Jamek Mosque, Kuala Lumpur, from Feb 27 to March 1, he said 508 participants from the state who attended the programme had volunteered to have health checks on Covid-19.

"Ninety-four patients were treated at the Permai Hospital with 21 of them positive for Covid-19.

"There are 73 others who are Persons Under Investigation (PUI) for Covid-19, including 13 who are tabligh members who had attended the gathering," he said, calling on those who had attended the gathering to volunteer for a health examination.

At the same time, the Tenggara member of Parliament called on the public to respect the government's decision that all gatherings, including international meetings, sports, social and religious events, to be postponed or cancelled accordingly until April 30.

"Concerning the limit of a mass gathering, we have heard the prime minister's (Muhyiddin Yassin) message that there should be no gathering in the current situation, I urge the people not to hold a public gathering of more than 50 people at any one time," he said, advising the public to practice good hygiene. especially washing their hands.

At the same time, he said MOH also urged private hospitals to limit visiting hours as done in government hospitals to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection.

"We have called for the co-operation of private hospitals to be more stringent in this regard and, the latest, we have reached an understanding with a private hospital in dealing with Covid-19," he said.

- Bernama