JOHOR BARU, May 15 — As the country moves into the mid-inter-monsoon season, the Johor Health Department has taken pro-active measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections within temporary flood relief centres state-wide.
Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said Johor has faced heavy rainfall recently, leading to flash floods.
He said three districts in the state have been hit by flash floods namely Johor Baru, Kluang and Tangkak that resulted in several temporary flood relief centers being opened to accommodate the flood victims.
“As of yesterday, two temporary flood relief centers are still open in Kluang involving 63 victims from 18 families.
“The state’s Health Department has already taken steps to implement new living norms with the District Disaster Management Committee,” said Vidyananthan in a statement on Johor’s daily Covid-19 update today.
Vidyananthan said the steps include practising social distancing and personal hygiene among flood victims, prioritising the use of the school classrooms as temporary flood relief centres, rather than halls, and isolating each family in different school classes.
“In addition to that, the authorities will also perform daily Covid-19 symptom screening for flood victims upon admission to the flood relief centres, prohibiting any form of assembly and performing regular health education activities on Covid-19 prevention and disinfect the temporary flood relief centre’s facilities after the victims are allowed to return home,” he said.
On a related matter, Vidyananthan said four flood victims in Kluang were reported to have respiratory infection symptoms while being housed in temporary flood relief centres.
“However, through physical examination and risk assessment, including exposure history and travel history, these cases were not categorised as suspected Covid-19 positive,” he said.
Vidyananthan, who is also the Kahang assemblyman, said that to prevent the spread of flood-related illnesses, the Johor Health Department, through the respective district health offices, has increased surveillance of infectious diseases, especially for cases such as leptospirosis, melioidosis, cholera, typhoid, and dengue.
He said disinfection and spraying activities at each temporary flood relief centre and the flood victims' homes are carried out without exception.
“Health screening and health education are also being upgraded in all flooding areas to increase public awareness of the risk of infectious diseases after the flood.
“I hope people will try to live by the new norms and to avoid public places, closed places, and maintain safe social distancing.
“The public is urged to maintain good hygiene and to be careful when under flood conditions, especially during the ongoing conditional movement control order (CMCO) period,” said Vidyananthan.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department said the inter-monsoon phase started on March 27, and is expected to continue until May.
During this time, wind will blow from multiple directions and will be conducive for storm clouds to form over several states.
The department forecast said almost all states in the peninsula are expected to experience sunny days in the morning, with rains in the evening and at night in coming weeks.
