THOSE who disclose Covid-19 symptoms via the MySejahtera app will be asked to undergo further examination at a nearby health facility via SMS and automated voice recording, or robocall, in the near future, Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

He said this system will be applied especially to individuals displaying Covid-19 warning signs such as fever, breathing difficulties, prolonged fatigue and chest pain.

“In addition, any individual who reports two or more warning signs will receive a call from the virtual CAC (Covid-19 clinical assessment centre) outbound medical team to confirm their condition and check whether they need ambulance assistance to get to a hospital,” Noor Hisham said in a statement today.

“The robocall service is for those who have yet to answer the health assessment questions in the MySejahtera application but have reported symptoms.

“It is hoped that with this improvement to the CAC service, we will be able to better monitor Covid-19 patients in their homes and reduce the mortality rate, especially in terms of brought-in-dead (BID) cases.”

Noor Hisham said such services were part of the Health Ministry’s initiatives to improve and enhance CACs as Covid-19 transitions into the endemic stage in Malaysia, and that other upgrades will also be implemented in phases.

Among the other upgrades are the expansion of virtual CACs from greater Klang Valley throughout the country, which had already been implemented last month, said Noor Hisham.

With virtual CACs, asymptomatic Covid-19 patients who do not belong in the high-risk category are allowed to undergo home quarantine, to self-monitor, and to update their health condition through MySejahtera.

He said the ministry was also promoting the participation of private healthcare centres to provide alternative CAC services to Covid-19 patients to ensure more effective and extensive monitoring during home quarantine.

Based on suggestions by multiple stakeholders, the ministry has permitted the establishment of wholly private-run CACs, which may serve as an alternative to home quarantine for category 1 and 2 patients.

Some locations that can be converted to CACs are community halls and hotels, and the private sector may refer to a reference guide formulated by the ministry to provide such services. – October 14, 2021.