He called for more awareness and clarity on the SOPs for home quarantine as many are still unclear. 

 

“Cases are at an all time high now therefore the government cannot afford to take these issues lightly. Efforts must be increased to educate the public on the home quarantine SOPs and the Health Ministry’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre (CAC) by frequently publishing it on all available media including outdoor media especially in areas with high populations in simple Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil to ensure it is understood by all Malaysians. 

 

“There are a total of 213 Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CAC) nationwide to conduct assessments of Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment at their respective homes. It must also be assumed that not every citizen follows the daily news updates therefore a more strategic approach and appropriate selection of media to communicate these messages is needed. 

 

“The Communications and Multimedia Ministry should increase its efforts to ensure the Health Ministry’s messages on the CAC and home quarantine SOPs are well communicated at every level,” said Dr Subramaniam.

 

He added that recently, there have been a number of reports in the media on confirmed COVID-19 cases who either waited days for a call from the District Health Offices (PKD) or had difficulty contacting them. 

 

“Although the SOPs for home quarantine can be accessed via the MySejahtera app and via the Health Ministry’s official website, some of the confirmed positive cases were not aware and needed to speak to someone from the Health Ministry. 

 

“We should expect that those who had just been diagnosed with COVID-19 might be overcome with anxiety and will try desperately to contact the department in charge for assistance and guidance on the next steps to be taken.

 

“It must also be assumed that there will be elderly citizens who would use the phone to call therefore every call should be treated with urgency. It was reported in the media three days ago that when the husband of an Executive Editor with New Straits Times was confirmed COVID-19 positive, she, her children and aunt (identified as close contacts) were only called in for testing two days after their quarantine had ended hence they were without the pink bracelets for 10 days. 

 

 “Last month, in another case, Ms Yong, 49, and her 5 family members in Petaling Jaya, Selangor who tested positive at a private laboratory’s drive through COVID-19 screening service, had waited at home for 3 days for a phone call from MOH. 

 

“Her parents in law were in the high risk group of complications and had developed more severe symptoms. The call did not come and neither was there an ambulance sent to the home. 

 

“Her calls to the Sungai Buloh hospital were also not picked up. Worried over her in-laws worsening symptoms, she paid RM2,000 to hire two private ambulances to send them to a hospital. An entrepreneur faced similar issues upon testing positive last month. 

 

“He decided to recover at home as there was no call from the PKD. His calls to the Covid-19 hotline set up by the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) went unanswered while his messages to their dedicated WhatsApp number were also met with no response. 

 

“These are cases that have been reported in the media but we are concerned, there may be many others facing similar issues that have gone unreported. Many could be similarly in the dark over the SOPs. We fear that not all individuals will be as responsible in taking the home quarantine seriously hence we urge the government to urgently address these issues and make the necessary improvements or we could see cases of COVID-19 rise even higher in the near future,” added Dr Subramaniam.