KUANTAN – A total of 89 health facilities were affected by the recent floods in Pahang, with 16 of them submerged in floodwaters, said Pahang Health Director Datuk Dr Bahari Awang Ngah.
He said the facilities that were submerged in floodwater were health and rural clinics in Temerloh, Bera, Lipis, Maran, Pekan and Raub, while the remaining 73 facilities could not be accessed due to flooded roads.
However, the affected facilities continued to operate by shifting their operations to nearby premises, such as health or rural clinics, mosques or school buildings so that they could continue serving residents, especially during emergency situations, he said today.
Bahari said Temerloh district was the worst affected, involving 25 facilities, including 17 rural clinics, five health clinics and a nutrition laboratory in Mentakab.
He said 97 of the health workers were also victims of the floods, while 410 others had problems going out to work because road were cut off.
However, they continued to serve at their work place, while those who were not able to do so, they went to report themselves at the nearest available operating facility, he said, adding that this brought to to the total number of the health workers who served during the floods to 15,549 people in the state.
"During the floods, we also send medical teams to flood relief centres (PPS) to conduct health examination and treatment, manage Covid-19 screenings, while the health team is tasked with inspecting hygiene aspects, monitoring the quality of drinking water and investigating cases of infections, if any, so that prevention measures can be done immediately.
"For post-flood operations, the health team will continue work, such as assessing the risk of waterborne diseases, conducting chlorination of water supply sources and monitoring the cleanliness of food premises.”
According to Bahari, a total of 20 quarantine centres were set up to accommodate close contacts of Covid-19 cases as a precautionary measure, with 35 individuals identified as close contacts accommodated at five of the centres in Lipis, Temerloh, Jerantut and Pekan.
The state Health Department is also monitoring the presence of 91 close contacts of Covid-19 who are undergoing self-quarantine at home in flood risk locations to facilitate evacuation, when necessary, he said. – Bernama, January 19, 2021
