COVID: MOH to set up call centre, improve CAC monitoring process

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health is in the process of setting up a call centre to improve the monitoring process by the COVID-19 Assessment Centre (CAC), says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the call centre would receive calls from patients with symptoms to be channeled to the relevant CAC, as well as receive calls related to general inquiries on the Home Surveillance Order (HSO) and redirecting emergency calls to MERS 999 (Malaysia Emergency Response Services).

"For a start, it will be implemented in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya which have a high caseload. Apart from that, the MOH will also add telephone lines at 33 CACs in the three states, to reduce call congestion," he said in a statement today.

Dr Noor Hisham said this was being implemented as the sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases since April had led to a high workload for those at the CACs.

He said the situation had caused anxiety among patients who were undergoing HSO, especially when they reported new symptoms or deterioration of symptoms in the MySejahtera system, but were yet to receive any feedback from the CAC concerned.

He said the number of patients visiting the CACs had increased by 150 per cent to 10,000 cases a day on June 5, while the number of active cases under CAC monitoring had also increased 108 per cent from 5,300 a day to 11,000 a day.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, 198 CACs were currently in operation with teams comprising family physicians, public health physicians, medical officers, assistant medical officers, nurses, and environmental health assistant officers.

CACs serves as a one-stop centre for the evaluation of individuals who are confirmed positive to determine whether they should undergo isolation and self-monitoring at home, or require admission to the COVID-19 Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC) or hospital.

-- BERNAMA