PUTRAJAYA: Individuals with pink wristbands and close contacts of COVID-19 positive cases have been told to refrain from delivering personal items to family members at the COVID-19 Integrated Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC) 2.0 at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS).

Social Welfare Department (JKM) officer Ramacantiran M. Ananthan said it was irresponsible of these next of kin to turn up at the PKRC MAEPS 2.0 as they would be exposing personnel at this centre to additional risks.

He said personnel receiving the items at the MAEPS security booth were not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and thus prone to getting infected by these visitors.

"We understand the situation of the next of kin, who hope to make their family members comfortable by providing essential items.

"But they need to think of the 1,300 personnel at the PKRC MAEPS 2.0 who are exposed to risks in managing the needs of their family members. Don't add to our risks here," he told Bernama today.

Saying everyone has a role to play to curb the spread of COVID-19, Ramacantiran said visitors should be more considerate to frontliners as they too need to protect their own family members from the virus.

He said deliveries of personal items to patients at the centre had increased excessively to more than 300 bags daily.

"The patients will be treated at PKRC MAEPS 2.0 for a maximum of 10 days but the items sent can last them a month. Some sent food and clothes in oversized bags," he said.

Ramacantiran said JKM personnel were now saddled with the task of receiving and delivering the items to patients as this was previously shouldered by the police.

However, he said the personnel were serving with high spirits although they were exposed to risks as they had to enter the yellow zone to surrender the items.

To overcome congestion at the delivery hut and reduce the risk of infection, the centre now allows only three types of goods to be sent to patients.

The permissible items are medicines, milk and diapers, with the delivery period from 8 am to 3 pm and visitors are not allowed during lunch break from 1 pm to 2 pm.

However, deliveries of clothes to patients may be allowed in certain cases, especially if the patients had just been transferred from any hospital or COVID-19 Assessment Centre.

Meanwhile, the public are urged to get the latest information on the operations of PKRC MAEPS 2.0 from its website www.pkrcmaeps.gov.my, which was activated on July 1.

The website is fully sponsored by MYNIC Bhd, an agency under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, with the cooperation of the Information Department.

Queries sent through the website will get a response within 24 hours.

-- BERNAMA