20 Covid-19 cases detected among flood evacuees

JELI: Twenty Covid-19 cases have been detected among flood evacuees at the relief centres in Kelantan and Terengganu in the past 10 days.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said between Dec 22 and 30, 15 cases were reported in Kelantan and five in Terengganu.

“All the reported cases are in stable condition, with 17 cases falling into Category Two, two cases in Category Three, and one case in Category Four.

“The Category Four involved a senior citizen with uncontrolled hypertension,” he said, adding however that the patient was discharged from Jeli Hospital on Saturday.

He was speaking to reporters after visiting flood evacuees at a relief centre in Sekolah Kebangsaan Jeli 1 yesterday.

Also present were Health deputy director-general (Public Health) Datuk Dr Norhayati Rusli and Kelantan state Health Department director Datuk Dr Zaini Hussin.

Dzulkefly said so far, a total of 297 medical teams, 286 health teams, 102 Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS) teams, and 286 health literacy promotional teams had been deployed to relief centres in the states affected by floods.

“There is currently no need to mobilise additional personnel to the flood-affected states but we are always ready to dispatch teams should the need arises.

“In addition, a total of 123 Psychological First Aid (PFA) have also been conducted for the early detection of mental health problems to provide further treatment,” he said.

The health team at the relief centres, said Dzulkefly, always conducted disease control and prevention activities, such as inspecting food preparation equipment and the quality of drinking water, as well as eradicating mosquito breeding grounds to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.