MySejahtera mobile app flooded by 700,000 registrations

PUTRAJAYA: The government’s MySejahtera app, created to help manage the Covid-19 outbreaks and hotspot tracing in the country, became congested following a surge in attempts by the public to register.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the app received some 700,000 registrations in a minute.

He said this was after the announcement of RM50 in eWallet credit, with an additional RM50 in the form of discounts and cashback, which is part of the Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan initiative announced by the Prime Minister last Friday.

Malaysians need to download the app to receive the benefits.

“It is true. The app registration became congested as we received 700,000 registrations at once in a minute.

“We call upon all not to rush to register at the same time, ” he said.

The Health Ministry is now considering extending the registration period to a week.

On another development, Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry was looking into reducing congestion at healthcare facilities by expanding “virtual clinics” and promoting home visits under the new norm, to limit social contact.

These include expanding the concept of virtual clinics among patients and sending medicine to them.

“We are looking at ways on how we can deliver our services to the patient’s home or community (facilities) – like at longhouses – so patients don’t have to come to hospitals, ” he said.

Another possibility, he said, was for hospitals and health clinics to arrange staggered appointments so that service hours would be spaced out to avoid congestion at the waiting room.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham warned Malaysians that dengue cases were on the rise.

“For the past six weeks, the number of dengue cases has seen an upward trend, with an average increase of 8% every week, ” he said.

He cautioned that a second wave of dengue cases may happen this month, based on trends over the last five years.

“As more social, education, religious and business sectors are expected to be reopened, there is a high possibility that such places, which have long been closed and vacated, would be at risk of becoming mosquito breeding grounds, ” he said.

He said that there had been 84 dengue deaths so far this year, adding that 11% of them had delayed seeking treatment.

> Corrections were made to the headline and intro.