Retired doctors to be roped in if Covid-19 cases spike - Adham

CORONAVIRUS | The government is prepared to rope in retired doctors and medical officers from the Armed Forces should there be a drastic spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said such a decision would only be made if there were a pressing need for their services.

“If there is a drastic rise in the number of (Covid-19) cases, like certain other countries, then we have to rope them (retired and Armed Forces doctors) in to help us,” he said when appearing as a guest on RTM's Bicara Naratif programme that discussed the topic "Covid-19: Be Aware and Act Fast" live on TV1 last night.

Dr Adham said the country has enough doctors to deal with the Covid-19 situation and also other health-related matters at the moment.

He said this includes the ministry’s efforts to station 1,000 trainee doctors at 44 hospitals nationwide to help smoothen daily operations, in the process lightening the load of existing doctors.

The ministry has also added 830 more nurses on contract to increase the workforce capacity at 135 government hospitals nationwide in response to the sharp increase in Covid-19 cases since last week.

Meanwhile, Adham was also hopeful that Malaysia could be among the nations capable of developing a vaccine for Covid-19, adding that it would be an effort that would help protect Malaysians in the future.

During the programme, the minister also demonstrated the correct way of using hand sanitisers, besides advising the public on the importance of adhering to the movement control order that is in effect until March 31.

Earlier, during the "Ekslusif Menteri Kesihatan" segment over TV1’s Berita Perdana, Adham said there were signs that the number of Covid-19 cases was stabilising in Malaysia, and hoped there would be no more increase of cases.

"The signs for a plateau (in the number of new Covid-19 cases) are there... although there is an increase, there is not much difference (in numbers for the past few days). So (the curve) is starting to flatten and we do not want to see anymore increase in cases,” he said. — Bernama