COVID-19 care packages that include rapid test kits and a pulse oximeter will be given to B40 families as Malaysia moves towards an endemic stage of the disease, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today. 

The packages, worth RM471.6 million, are aimed at helping ease the financial burden of the lower income group and protect them from the coronavirus.

“It is also to train them to adapt to the new norms,” Ismail said in a statement today.

“The care packages will include four pieces of reusable masks, four Covid-19 self-test kits, a pulse oximeter, a thermometer and a brochure on guidelines to use the devices and other related medical information.”

He said this initiative will start with families who are recipients of the government’s cash aid programme, Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR).

Of the total 8.4 million BPR recipients, 3.6 million are B40 households. 

Health experts have said previously that guidance on Covid-19 home quarantine for those infected should be provided, including oximeters, so that they can monitor their health status.

The lack of guidance on home isolation care and knowledge on how to monitor one’s own health situation has been cited as one of the reasons for the high number of dead-on-arrival Covid-19 fatalities.

Ismail also announced the government’s decision to administer a third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, or booster shot, beginning with vulnerable groups. – September 19, 2021.