COVID-19: Vulnerable groups must continue to be protected - Dr Noor Hisham

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health (MoH) hopes that the community will continue to play a role in protecting the vulnerable in the fight against COVID-19 in 2021.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said they included persons with disabilities (PwD), senior citizens, Orang Asli, dialysis and cancer patients, and those with low immunity and chronic illnesses.

“MOH will empower the community and protect green zones as well as improve the control of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure through the Peka B40 programme.

"MOH will also enhance integration of services to the people through cooperation between the public and private services," he said in a video uploaded on his official website.

The 14-minute 50-second video, among others, features COVID-19 highlights throughout 2020, covering the number of cases, number of ventilators, number of beds and pre-surgical tests that have been conducted until December.

The highlights also include cooperation between the MOH and other government agencies such as the Royal Malaysian Police, the Malaysian Armed Forces and the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).

Dr Noor Hisham also said that the MySejahtera application developed to monitor COVID-19 transmissions has 25.95 million registered users as of Dec 23.

"A total of 1.38 million businesses have also registered while a total of 2.46 billion check-ins were recorded as of Dec 28," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham also reminded the people to always practise personal hygiene, to wash hands regularly, wear face masks, practise physical distancing and to comply with standard operating procedures (SOP).

“We have not won the COVID-19 war and it has in fact become more intense. Let us unite and comply with all SOPs to avoid being infected.

“Happy New Year 2021. We take care of each other, our families, our community and our country,” Dr Noor Hisham said.

Highlights of the video can be viewed via the link: https://kpkesihatan.com/2020/12/31/sorotan-covid-19-sepanjang-2020-dari-ketua-pengarah-kesihatan/.

As of Dec 31, Malaysia recorded a total of 113,010 COVID-19 cases, with 88,941 recoveries and 471 deaths.

-- BERNAMA