Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has advised the public in Selangor to choose the nearest Covid-19 Assessment Centre (CAC) so as to avoid congestion at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam.
He tweeted that there are 12 more CACs in the state that the public could go to, including one each in the Klang and Hulu Selangor districts as well as 10 in the Gombak district.
Based on the infographic shared, the CAC in the Klang district is located at Dewan Sukan Klang (Dewan Sri Andalas) while the one in Hulu Selangor is at Klinik Desa Ulu Yam Lama.
The CACs in the Gombak district are at the health clinics in Kuang; Batu 8; AU2; Hulu Kelang; Taman Ehsan; Batu Arang; Sungai Buloh; Selayang Baru; Rawang; and Gombak Setia.
Meanwhile, it was reported that more than 4,000 Covid-19 positive patients flooded the Malawati Stadium CAC yesterday, in what is believed to be the centre’s largest single-day turnout to date.
Images and videos of Covid-19 patients lining up outside the stadium had gone viral on social media yesterday.
People of all ages, including babies and the elderly, were seen queuing up outside the stadium and under the hot sun.
It is understood that the CAC had a capacity of processing between 1,200 and 1,500 Covid-19 patients a day.
Darul Ehsan Facilities Management Sdn Bhd (DEFM) manager Ahmad Sayuti Bashiron, who is also the CAC facilities coordinator, told the New Straits Times that the turnout was unprecedented.
He said the CAC was initially scheduled to receive 3,616 patients for assessment yesterday.
“However, yesterday was by far the highest number of infected patients recorded at the CAC in a single day, numbering more than 4,000,” he said.
He, however, said only the Health Ministry could confirm the exact number.
Sayuti reckoned that the large crowd could also have been due to the fact that the CAC, which operated from Monday to Saturday, was closed on Sunday, thus creating a backlog.
“More than half of the new Covid-19 cases reported on Saturday were from Selangor, and perhaps 80 percent from Petaling district alone.
“As such, those who had tested positive (on Saturday) came yesterday to get themselves assessed, hence the large crowd,” he said.
At the CAC, Covid-19 patients would undergo an assessment to determine the severity of their infection. The assessment would then determine whether they were sent to hospitals, Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC), or ordered to undergo quarantine at home.
This was not the first time that the Malawati Stadium CAC had experienced a massive turnout.
Last Monday, long queues, stretching up to 500m, were also reported at the CAC.