Subscribe to our Telegram channel for our latest stories and breaking news.
A video showing a huge crowd at a COVID-19 Assessment Centre (CAC) in Shah Alam has gone viral on Facebook
According to the caption of the post, the footage is said to have been taken at the Malawati Stadium on Saturday, 15 May.
A Facebook post carrying six photos shows a swarm of people queueing outside the stadium, with a tweet claiming that the line stretches 1.5km long.
Bernama reported earlier this year that the Malawati Stadium was converted into a CAC on 8 February as a response to the rising number of new COVID-19 cases in the Petaling district.
The stadium can accommodate up to 1,500 patients, a capacity that is three times more than the previous CAC at Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) Hall located in SS15.
Image via 我们是马来西亚人 We are Malaysians (Facebook)
Image via 我们是马来西亚人 We are Malaysians (Facebook)
“This is the Malawati Stadium,” a man behind the camera says in the viral video.
“Many of them are waiting for their assessment to see where they will be sent to. Everyone here is COVID-19 positive.”
The one-minute long video shows that the stadium is filled with people of different age groups waiting to be served by medical officers dressed in personal protective equipment (PPE).
One woman can be seen carrying a baby on her shoulder while an elderly person in front of her is being served at a counter.
“Please follow SOPs (standard operating procedures) and don’t go to public places. The number of cases is rising here,” the man can be heard pleading behind the camera.
Image via 我们是马来西亚人 We are Malaysians (Facebook)
After the video and photos went viral, Petaling district health office public health physician Dr Faridah Amin clarified that none of the patients at the CAC will be housed in the stadium
Bernama quoted her as saying yesterday, 16 May, that all patients were being assessed at the CAC, and depending on their conditions, they will either be ordered to undergo home quarantine, admitted to the COVID-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (MAEPS) in Serdang, or admitted to hospitals.
Meanwhile, a Twitter user complained that the arrangement at the CAC is very inefficient as the process took him 11 hours before he was registered at MAEPS.
“Stadium Melawati (sic) from 8.30am till 5.30pm, it took them [nine] hours to decide that I had to go to the Quarantine Center. Upon arrival in a cramped, no social distancing bus, we were clueless of where will we be sent (like which MAEPS Dewan).” he said.
“Our registration at [the] MAEPS COVID-19 Quarantine Centre took about [two] hours.”
“Most of us sent here are asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. But after going through the process at the CAC and in coming here, we began [to] develop symptoms such as coughing (I myself started to cough).”
Image via Twitter