Health DG says let Khairuddin's case remind frontliners to comply with SOPs

 

The case concerning Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali should serve as a reminder for medical frontliners to comply with the standard operating procedures, said the Health Ministry's director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

Earlier, the police had announced that Khairuddin would not be charged for flouting the home quarantine order as the Attorney-General's Chambers found that the authorised officer did not issue the minister with Form 14b.

The form contains an order for home surveillance and/or observation orders.

Noor Hisham was asked by the media why the form was not issued to Khairuddin upon the minister's arrival at the airport. He was also asked why, if the minister wasn't given quarantine orders, why was he slapped with a RM1,000 fine.

Noor Hisham directed the media to refer to his response during a press conference on Aug 25.

For the record, on that day, the health director general clarified that the top officials of the ministry were in the dark about Khairuddin's violation of home quarantine rules as they were not informed by the frontliners on the ground.

"Please refer to my response during the Q&A on Aug 25. It still stands what I said. I was asked the same question. I already made my comment on the issue.

"So the police have investigated and the attorney-general has given the press statement.

"But more importantly is for the frontliners to follow and comply with the SOP in terms of executing our services to the public," Noor Hisham said.

Khairuddin, who is also the Kuala Nerus MP, returned from a trip to Turkey in July and reportedly went about his ministerial activities without observing home quarantine.

He has been adamant that he did not do anything wrong.

In another matter, when asked whether patients who have recovered from Covid-19 would develop certain complications, Noor Hisham said it's still too early to identify the long-term effects.

"So far we follow-up every three months for the duration of 10 months.

"It's a bit too early for us to look into the long-term effects or complication of Covid-19.

"We fear in the long-term maybe they will develop pulmonary fibrosis, but (based on) reports from other countries, there were complaints of amnesia and lethargy.

"We are following up with our patients closely whether we can document these long-term complications," he said. - Mkini