Social welfare department (JKM) officer Ramacantiran M Ananthan said it was irresponsible of next of kin to turn up at the quarantine centre as they would be exposing personnel there to additional risks.
He said personnel receiving the items at the security booth were not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and thus were prone to getting infected by the visitors.
“We understand the situation of the next of kin, who hope to make their family members comfortable by providing essential items.
“But they need to think of the 1,300 personnel at the PKRC MAEPS 2.0 who are exposed to risks in managing the needs of their family members. Don’t add to our risks here,” he said today.
Saying everyone has a role to play in curbing the spread of Covid-19, Ramacantiran said visitors should be more considerate to frontliners as they too need to protect their own family members from the virus.
He said deliveries of personal items to patients at the centre had increased excessively to more than 300 bags daily.
“The patients will be treated at PKRC MAEPS 2.0 for a maximum of 10 days but the items sent can last them a month. Some send food and clothes in oversized bags,” he said.
Ramacantiran said welfare department personnel were now saddled with the task of receiving and delivering the items to patients as this was previously handled by the police.
However, he said the personnel were serving with high spirits although they were exposed to risks as they had to enter the yellow zone to surrender these items.
To overcome congestion at the delivery booth and reduce the risk of infections, the centre now allows only three types of goods to be sent to patients.
The permissible items are medicine, milk and diapers, with the delivery period from 8am to 3pm. Visitors are not allowed during lunch break, from 1pm to 2pm.
However, deliveries of clothes to patients may be allowed in certain cases, especially if the patients had just been transferred from a hospital or a Covid-19 assessment centre.
Meanwhile, the public are urged to get the latest information on the operations of PKRC MAEPS 2.0 from its website.
The website is fully sponsored by Mynic Bhd, an agency under the communications and multimedia ministry, with the cooperation of the information department.
Queries sent through this website will get a response within 24 hours.
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