by S BIRRUNTHA/ pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

THE Health Ministry (MoH) has developed a Covid-19 prevention and management guide at the Temporary Settlement Centre (PPS), which houses flood victims.

Health DG Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the guide covers the process of evacuating flood victims to the centre until the settlement process ends.

“The situation of too many residents in PPS can carry the risk of transmission of Covid-19 among the victims and staff.

“Therefore, the Covid-19 prevention measures in PPS should be observed by all residents and agencies responsible for the management and welfare of victims in the settlement centre,” he said in his Covid-19 updates yesterday.

He added that the guide includes basic measures such as social distancing for tents and cubicles in the PPS, providing face masks and hand sanitisers, and maintaining personal hygiene.

“All PPSs need to ensure that posters on cough and sneezing ethics, as well as appropriate hand hygiene, are posted at strategic locations,” he said.

He added that meals for the victims must be provided in individual packaging and frequent sanitisation of common areas and toilets.

To date, 18 PPSs have been set up in seven districts, housing 1,267 victims from 303 families affected by the floods in Johor, Pahang, Selangor and Melaka.

Meanwhile, on the reopening of schools, Dr Noor Hisham said the virus must be prevented from spreading among students, teachers and staff as it could lead to more widespread infections in the community.

He also stressed that if the Covid-19 virus spreads within the school grounds, it will further infect families and communities.

Therefore, he said, schools must comply with the advice and recommendations by the ministry to protect more individuals from being infected by the virus.

As of yesterday, the country recorded five new Covid-19 positive cases involving three citizens, one non-citizen and one import case.

These new cases brought the country’s overall total to 8,734 with 86 active Covid-19 cases being treated at health facilities nationwide.

Among the active cases yesterday, five were in the intensive care unit with one under ventilator support.

Two patients were discharged yesterday, increasing the total recovered cases in the country to 8,526 or 97.6% of the total cases.

No new deaths recorded yesterday, as the country’s death tally remained at 122.

Separately, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said 477 Malaysians returned via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and KLIA2 yesterday.

He said the returnees from China, Indonesia, Qatar, India, Thailand and Japan were ordered to undergo mandatory home quarantine.

The senior minister added that the MoH screened 18,154 individuals at the KLIA entrance from June 10 to July 14.

“Of these, 18,081 individuals tested negative for Covid-19 and are undergoing mandatory home quarantine, while another 73 individuals tested positive and were sent to the hospital,” he said.