KUALA LUMPURL The Covid-19 treatment centre at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) has resolved problems with its level of hygiene and standard of care after widespread criticism from the public.
Its director, Dr Shahabuddin Ibrahim, said the centre had issues with its regular cleaning staff and had to bring in new workers.
"We had experienced some constraints with the staff from the cleaning concessionaire. A new group has replaced the workers and they had to wait for their Covid-19 test results so that they could be deployed.
"After the results were out and training on infection control was completed, cleaning of the facility resumed at 7pm on Sunday," said Dr Shahabuddin in statement yesterday.
Videos of deplorable conditions at MAEPS were circulated on social media over the weekend, raising questions on standards at the Covid-19 quarantine and low-risk treatment centre.
Several patients shared images of overflowing rubbish bins and piles of bed linen and laundry in the corridors.
Others complained of dirty sleeping areas and that dust under the beds could trigger asthma attacks.
One patient said the women's wing in Hall D was understaffed, with only 20 to 30 medical workers to serve the 3,400 patients at the time.
There were allegations of six-hour waits to see a doctor and that those with mild symptoms were placed in the same hall with Category 3 patients because of bed shortages.
One patient, Ali Za, 50, told the New Straits Times he was taken to MAEPS last Friday morning but was assigned a bed only the next day.
Another patient, who only wanted to be known as Hana, said she had to become a vegetarian during her two-week stay as staff did not take note of her seafood allergy and kept serving her fish.
Checks with the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) showed that on Sunday, there were 4,360 patients at the facility, with 904 beds to spare.
There were 832 patients discharged and 653 new patients taken in that day, while 24 were referred to hospitals.
From June 25 to Sunday, an average of 786 patients were brought in daily.
Covid-19 treatment centres in Selangor are now at 83 per cent capacity.