18 Health Ministry facilities damaged by Johor floods

SERDANG - A total of 18 facilities belonging to the Health Ministry have been affected by the current floods in Johor, said Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

She said the affected facilities comprised 13 village clinics, four health clinics and one dental clinic in Segamat and Tangkak.

"Chaah in Segamat is the most affected, especially the health clinic. We lost some of our devices over there," she told a press conference after opening the Serdang Heart Disease in Pregnancy Symposium at the Serdang Hospital here today.

Dr Zaliha said for the time being, the number of MOH teams assigned to provide services to flood victims in Johor was adequate.

Johor has been hit by floods since March 1 and the number of evacuees rose to 37,322 at 8 am today, compared to 34,849 at 8 pm yesterday.

Asked whether there was any COVID-19 infection at flood relief centres in Johor, Dr Zaliha said as of this morning, one case each had been detected in Segamat and Kluang.

The two individuals were reported to be in stable condition and undergoing isolation at Segamat Hospital and Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital, Kluang, she said.

"We will also monitor cooking activities at relief centres to avoid food poisoning problems while preventive measures for dengue and leptospirosis are carried out daily by a team from the District Health Office," she said.

Earlier, in her speech, Dr Zaliha said Serdang Hospital had become the focus of referrals for heart disease cases during pregnancy because there is a combination of cardiac, obstetrics and gynaecology services as well as paediatrics, with 669 such patients getting treatment there last year.

She said the analysis of maternal deaths from the report published on 'Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths (CEMD) 2012-2014' showed the four main causes of death were heart complications, postpartum haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and pulmonary embolism (blood clot in an artery in the lungs).- BERNAMA