Noor Hisham calls for private doctors, NGOs to help in Sabah

 

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the health ministry needed all the help it could get to control the Covid-19 pandemic in Sabah.

PETALING JAYA: Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has called on private hospitals and medical NGOs to help the health ministry contain the Covid-19 outbreak in Sabah.

He said there was a need for a “full collaboration” between the public and private healthcare sectors.

“Today, I again urge NGOs, the private sector and doctors to come together with the health ministry to help us contain the spread of Covid-19 in Sabah,” he said at a press conference today.

“We have managed to contain the Covid-19 infections in Kuching, we had many clusters there before this but we managed to contain them.

“Likewise, similar action has been done in Kedah. We’ve seen this for the Sivagangga, Telaga and Sungai clusters. We managed to end all these clusters within three or four weeks,” he added.

He also urged the public to ensure compliance with SOPs, saying their response to the rise in Covid-19 cases was just as crucial as the public health response.

“We need the public to cooperate by staying at home. If you do this, the chance of infection will be less. But if you do go out, please adhere to the SOPs. More importantly, avoid crowded places and confined spaces.”

Who will be placed under home surveillance

Noor Hisham also explained the difference in quarantine procedures between individuals under home surveillance order (HSO) and close contacts of positive cases.

He said HSOs are given to people with light symptoms who do not need to be admitted (also classified as patient under investigation) and those with no symptoms but with a history of close contact with a Covid-19 patient (person under surveillance).

“Close contacts are those who had direct contact with a positive case. This includes those who were face to face with the patient at a distance less than one metre or those who had physical contact with the patient within 14 days of infection.

“Those who have been in contact with the positive case but are not identified as close contacts will not be given a HSO. However, they are advised to self quarantine and monitor their health status for 14 days,” he said. - FMT