KUCHING, Oct 12: An additional 1,899 health workers will be appointed on a contract basis to meet the increasing demand for health services in the nation amidst the current Covid-19 outbreak.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba revealed the Ministry of Health (MoH) submitted an application on Oct 9 to the Public Service Department and Ministry of Finance and Economy to select these 1,899 health workers.
“Among the additional supporting health workers (identified) in the application were research officers, nurses, assistant medical officers, assistant environmental health officers, medical laboratory technologists and administrative assistants (clerical or operations and finance).
“The application was submitted on Oct 9, 2020 in accordance with the government’s agreement for the MoH to consider adding health workers to a total of 2,000 on a contract basis as approved under the People’s Concern Economic Stimulus Package,” he said in a statement today.
He added these health workers are to be placed in health facilities such as hospitals, health clinics, laboratories, District Health Offices (PKD), and Crisis Preparedness and Response Centres (CPRC).
Besides that, some of them would be on duty at quarantine stations nationwide and international points of entry such as the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to ensure arrival and departure procedures are complied with effectively.
Dr Adham asserted the need for additional health workers was in line with current developments in the country due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases and emergence of new active clusters.
“As many are aware, the Covid-19 pandemic has shown an increasing trend due to the existence of new clusters especially in Kedah, Sabah and Selangor.
“Following another outbreak of the pandemic, a few areas labeled Covid-19 green zones 19 have since then turned to yellow or even red zones,” he pointed out. — DayakDaily
