The individual involved will be accompanied by a health worker to visit or perform the task
by S BIRRUNTHA / pic by RAZAK GHAZALI
PATIENTS under surveillance (PUS) have always been allowed to conduct tasks outside home, upon the Health Ministry’s (MoH) evaluation, said Health DG Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (picture).
Dr Noor Hisham said the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) empowers the health DG to evaluate the application of PUS individuals to carry out certain matters during the monitoring period.
“The health DG will conduct a risk assessment on the case and require action to be taken. In some specific conditions, the individual involved will be accompanied by a health worker to visit or perform the task.
“It is not a new thing and it has been implemented since the first day of Covid-19 transmission in the country. PUS is allowed to apply to be given time to visit or carry out tasks outside home,” he said in his Covid-19 press conference yesterday.
Dr Noor Hisham commented this to the statement by Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh, who questioned the decision of an MP to undergo a home surveillance order to be allowed to attend the Dewan Rakyat sitting and vote using personal protective equipment (PPE).
Fuziah was reported to have said that the permission given showed that other PUS cases could also be given the same permission to leave their homes by wearing PPE.
Meanwhile, the country recorded 1,295 new Covid-19 positive cases yesterday, of which 1,285 were local transmissions and 10 import case.
Dr Noor Hisham said Selangor remained the highest number of cases at 481 cases, where a total of 356 cases or 74% were detected from existing clusters and close contact screening carried out in the field.
“Apart from Selangor, other states that recorded high cases include Sabah with 268 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 232 new cases,” he noted.
Other states which have recorded new cases yesterday include Johor (105), Penang (69), Negri Sembilan (60), Perak (35), Melaka (14), Pahang (13), Kedah (nine), Putrajaya (four) and Labuan (three).
Kelantan and Terengganu recorded one case each, while Sarawak and Perlis did not record any new cases yesterday.
Additionally, Dr Noor Hisham said eight new Covid-19 clusters involving several states in the country were detected yesterday.
The clusters were namely Puncak Galaksi cluster in Selangor; Bukit Punai cluster in Sabah; Permai, Matahari and Laut construction site clusters in Kuala Lumpur; Cahaya Mahsuri cluster in Johor; Seri Tasik cluster in Perak and Inten cluster in Pahang.
The increase in the new cases have brought the country’s overall total to 87,913.
There are now 14,751 active Covid-19 cases that are being treated at health facilities nationwide.
Among the active cases yesterday, 113 were placed in the intensive care unit, with 53 of them requiring respiratory aid.
Meanwhile, 1,052 patients have been discharged, increasing the total recovered cases in the country to 72,733, which equals to 82.7%.
Seven new deaths were reported yesterday, increasing the overall Covid-19 death toll to 429.
Of the total, five deaths were reported in Sabah, one in Kelantan and another one in Selangor.
The deceased were between the age of 52 and 77, in which five of them had pre-existing medical conditions.
Separately, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said a total of 235 individuals were arrested for violating the Movement Control Order on Tuesday.
He added that among the offences include 82 premises failing to record customer details, not wearing face masks (81), not maintaining physical distancing (57) and others (15).
“Of the total number of arrests made, 233 of them were compounded while two were remanded,” he said in a statement.
Under Ops Benteng, the authorities have detained 40 illegal immigrants, five smugglers, as well as seized seven land vehicles and four boats.
From Jul 24 until Dec 15, a total of 87,013 individuals arrived at all international entrances and have been placed in 74 hotels and 17 other premises.
Of the total figure, 9,405 individuals are undergoing mandatory quarantine while 532 individuals were sent to hospitals for treatment.
A total of 77,076 individuals were allowed to return home.
Read our earlier report
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