PETALING JAYA: A total of 361 cases of Covid-19 among flood victims have been reported but there are no positive cases among evacuees at temporary relocation centres (PPS), says the Health Ministry.

       Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said as of 3pm on Wednesday (Dec 22), there were 415 operating PPS while there were a total of 65,114 flood victims across seven flood-hit states in Kelantan, Pahang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Melaka.

       “There were 361 Covid-19 cases among flood victims and no Covid-19 positive cases at PPS,” he said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 22).

       Dr Noor Hisham added that a total of 963 out of 3,438 flood victims were also examined and given outpatient treatment by the medical team at the PPS.

       Out of this, 203 had acute respiratory infection (ARI), 50 had skin diseases, 13 had Acute Gastroenteritis (AGE), one had Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) and the remaining 43 flood victims had various other infectious diseases.

       Dr Noor Hisham advised flood evacuees to inform the rescue officers of their Covid-19 risk status if they had tested positive for the virus, adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOP), and avoid gathering in crowds at the PPS.

       “Wear personal protective gear and make sure personal hygiene is maintained immediately by cleaning up your body if you have been soaked by floodwater, and practice handwashing with liquid disinfectant or soap.

       “Avoid playing or wading through floodwaters and always keep the PPS area clean to prevent vector-borne diseases,” he said.

       Dr Noor Hisham also advised the public to avoid consuming contaminated water and food.

       “If you start to experience symptoms, seek treatment at a clinic or a nearby hospital,” he said. He also said that the nation recorded 3,519 new cases on Wednesday (Dec 22) with 100 imported cases and 3,419 were local infections.

       A total of 65 cases or 1.8% were classified as patients in Categories Three, Four and Five while the remaining 3,454 cases or 98.2% were in Categories One and Two.

       A total of 331 cases were admitted into intensive care units (ICU) while 187 patients required breathing assistance.

       Meanwhile, the number of recoveries, which stood at 5,118 cases, outpaced the number of infections.

       A total of 2,647,587, or 97% of cumulative recoveries have been recorded since the pandemic began.

       Dr Noor Hisham also said there were two new clusters, bringing the total number of active clusters presently to 234, while the cumulative number of clusters since the pandemic began stood at 6,088.