I WOULD like to share my experience visiting the Covid-19 Assessment Centre (CAC) at Melawati Stadium in Shah Alam.
As I reside in Damansara Perdana, I was instructed by text message to show up for an assessment at the centre, at 9am on April 28, nine days after I tested positive for Covid-19.
I had expected to be called up within 72 hours of my positive test result, but I still went as it was a directive from the Health Ministry.
Not knowing the traffic conditions and the exact whereabouts of the stadium, I headed out early and arrived at 8am. There was a queue of about 100 people in front of me, and it got longer by the minute.
After about 45 minutes, I was feeling faint due to the heat and having to stand in line for so long. When 9am came, they opened the door to let people into the stadium.
What happened next was a joke. The queue did not move much because there was a bottleneck at the entrance, as everyone was required to download the Selangkah app, because the CAC did not recognise MySejahtera.
Can you imagine: people were confused and had to download and scan a new app just to be able to enter. How ridiculous is that?
Why didn’t they inform us when they sent the text message on our assessment date, or put up signage along the route where people queued up? I was lucky because a friend had informed me earlier, and I downloaded the app the night before.
With the queue practically not moving and as people struggled to download the app, I fainted. Luckily, a lady helped me up and suggested that I skip the queue and go straight to the front.
I flashed the Selangkah app to the nurse and was let in. When they assessed me, my blood pressure was low and I lacked oxygen. I was immediately transferred by ambulance to Sg Buloh Hospital, where I was discharged from on May 1.
The big question is: why the need to download Selangkah? Is it because Selangor is ruled by Pakatan Harapan and they don’t recognise the federal government’s MySejahtera app?
Shouldn’t there be a better system for people queueing up under the hot sun? Who can answer these questions?
Hopefully you, the media, can investigate and ask the right people. I don’t wish what happened to me, on someone else. It was not pleasant at all. – The Vibes, May 11, 2021
Don Liew has recovered fully, and gives a big shout-out to the doctors and nurses at Sg Buloh Hospital
