KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — The Selangor state government is spending RM6 million on a free Covid-19 mass testing exercise for high-risk individuals, covering 50,000 residents in the state with a 6.6 million population.
The mass testing exercise will focus on the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions, especially those in aged care centres and haemodialysis centres; the bottom 40 per cent (B40) of income earners; and university students.
Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari said, in his announcement on the state’s RM73.9 million Pakej Kita Selangor stimulus package, that the state would also provide its Bas Smart Selangor for free to transport low-risk Covid-19 patients to the low-risk quarantine and treatment centre in MAEPS, Serdang.
The state’s SELangkah contact tracing app will also be improved to enable self-monitoring for Covid-19 patients, in cooperation with Selgate Healthcare, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Selgate Corporation under state-owned Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS).
“This effort includes a hotline and a 24-hour call centre to guide the use of this kit. Covid-19 patients in the ‘Home Isolation and Monitoring’ category will receive a Home Care Package from the state government,” Amirudin said in a statement.
RM6 million will be spent on a Smart Selangor C5I Operations Centre, equipped with big data analytics, to support disaster management efforts together with federal agencies, including a centre to monitor Covid-19 cases in Selangor.
The Selangor state government plans to purchase three to five million Covid-19 vaccine doses for the state’s residents.
The Pakej Kita Selangor stimulus package will provide food aid to 9,822 health care workers in hospitals and state health departments throughout Selangor, as well as 3,500 police and army officers, through an RM3 million allocation.
Under the state government’s initiative for frontliners’ children, temporary child care and daycare centres will be set up at public hospitals and temporary premises for two months from January 25. This initiative costing RM1 million is expected to assist nearly 400 families.
“It is widely known that the Covid-19 pandemic must be handled through a ‘whole of government and whole of society approach’. The state government will reactivate the Covid-19 Fund that has received RM2.3 million as of this morning.
“Besides that, the state government proposes pay cuts for state executive councillors, state assemblymen, and high-ranking officials in government-linked corporations (GLCs). The mechanism of these pay cuts will be finalised and transferred to this fund,” Amirudin said, adding that he would contribute one month’s pay to the Covid-19 Fund.
Selangor is currently the country’s Covid-19 epicentre, as people infected with coronavirus complain about slow test results, contact tracing, and pick-ups from Ministry of Health ambulances to hospital or quarantine centres.
