COVID-19: MOH opens up for more health, medical volunteers

The Ministry of Health (MOH) welcomes the services of health and medical volunteers in handling the spread of COVID-19 incidents in the country.

Director-General of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said to date, 157 volunteers have joined them and assigned as volunteers in stages to assist the COVID-19 health and medical assistance team.

“A further 1,008 people from various medical professions will join the medical team at the hospitals.

"In light of the current situation, the MoH is calling for more volunteers to join the COVID-19 health and medical assistance team by filling out the COVID-19 Health and Medical Assistance Team Volunteers Registration Form on the Ministry of Health's Facebook website," he told a press conference on here today.

He said the process of hiring additional staff and support was still ongoing.

Asked about the involvement of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Noor Hisham said they were more focused on the task of screening refugees and immigrants.

“NGOs who have come forward to assist are United Nations High Commission For Refugees (UNHCR), the Malaysian Islamic Medical Association Action and Assistance Team (IMARET), Muslim Relief Agency and MERCY Malaysia.

"They assist us in providing relief services to Rohingya refugees and illegal immigrants (PATI) where PATI is afraid to come to the clinic or hospital, so they can undergo screening and treatment at the clinic," he said.