PETALING JAYA: The health ministry should consider using public vehicles like government vans and buses to transport Covid-19 patients to hospital, an assemblyman has proposed.
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Commenting on health director general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s instruction to those who tested positive for Covid-19 but are asymptomatic to self-isolate first, Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran said it was an impractical suggestion.
Instead, he said, the public vehicles should be used to overcome the delays in transporting patients to hospital by ambulances.
Calling self-isolation impractical for many Malaysians, Rajiv said in a statement that the ministry should not rely on ambulances alone, and should instead deploy government vans and buses and “even engage the military, if necessary.”
“It is imperative that the ministry engage all transport resources in the government, many of which are underutilised due to the movement restriction.”
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He noted that there are solutions to be learn from abroad. Singapore is using public buses to transport Covid-19 positive patients while France has a special train service for such patients.
He added that even asymptomatic cases should be treated with urgency as “patients are at the highest risk of infecting others between three days before developing symptoms and seven days after developing symptoms.”
He called the delay in finding a solution “unacceptable,” and said that given the amount of time the country has spent grappling with the pandemic, there should have been adequate time to develop an efficient response plan.
“Our battle against this pandemic is far from over and the weak strategies show that the health ministry is starting to give up. I strongly believe it is crucial for the ministry to its strategies while keeping in mind the intensity of this pandemic.”
Rajiv also noted that while many Malaysians are capable of acting responsibly, “we cannot rely on everyone to follow the stay-at-home instructions. Many may still go out and interact with others for a variety of reasons, especially if they are asymptomatic.” – FMT