186 private medical practitioners allowed to handle Covid-19 cases - Adham

 

A total of 186 private medical practitioners have been empowered under Section 10 (2) of the Emergency (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 to handle Covid-19 positive cases effective tomorrow, said Health Minister Dr Adham Baba.

He said they were all authorised to issue surveillance and monitoring orders at home or Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centres as well as instructions to wear quarantine wristbands.

"These private medical practitioners are allowed to handle Covid-19 positive cases at their workplaces, whether at clinics or private hospitals,” he told a media conference after launching a book titled The Covid-19 Chronicles of Malaysia: Navigating the Storm today.

On the breakdown of the private medical practitioners involved according to states, Adham said Selangor had the highest total, with 66, followed by Kuala Lumpur (43), Johor (26), Penang (16) and Negeri Sembilan (13).

As for the remainder, Malacca and Perlis have four each; Perak and Terengganu three each; Pahang, Kelantan and Sabah two each; while Kedah and Putrajaya have one each.

Adham said district health offices had been given the responsibility of preparing guidelines for these private medical practitioners.

He added that the target of having 60 percent of the 500,000 frontliners vaccinated was expected to be achieved by this week.

Thus far, he said, 195,923 individuals had been vaccinated.

A total of 4.68 million Malaysians have registered to receive the Covid-19 vaccine jab through the MySejahtera application.

Meanwhile, Adham said the setting up of the National Vaccination Exigencies Fund regarding any side effects arising from the Covid-19 vaccine jabs would be decided on Friday (March 12).

He said the Health Ministry would table the matter for discussion on various aspects at the cabinet level before it is implemented.

So far, he said there had been no report of any side effects from Covid-19 vaccine recipients.

The government had previously announced that it would set up a protection scheme aimed at providing compensation to Covid-19 vaccine recipients if any of them had any serious adverse effects from the vaccine.

- Bernama