Melaka to deploy bike patrols to combat spread of coronavirus

Melaka to deploy bike patrols to combat spread of coronavirus

Tourists in Melaka wearing face masks while touring the historic city during the Lunar New Year festive holidays.

MELAKA: Melaka has come up with its own method to combat the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus by mobilising the Bicycle Emergency Response Team 2.0 or Melbert 2.0 at major tourist hotspots in the historic city.

State Health, Anti-Drug and Unity Committee chairman Low Chee Leong said Melbert 2.0 is a mobile emergency team of paramedics on electric bicycles (e-bikes) and will be mobilised starting Tuesday (Jan 28) at all tourist destinations, including the iconic Jonker Walk.

“This is an ingenious mobile emergency response team of paramedics on bicycles, which was launched in 2016. They will help to monitor the situation and they are equipped with fever monitoring devices, ” he said on Monday (Jan 27).

Low said the team are capable of providing, among others, traumatology and paediatric emergency medicine.

A check at tourist destinations here on Monday showed that many tourists were wearing face masks.

Some of the tourists in tours groups were believed to be from China.

Low said there were many Chinese tourists who have entered Melaka and so far, no one was reported to be a carrier of the coronavirus.

He said there were also irresponsible individuals spreading fake news about public and private hospitals limiting the entries of visitors here following an outbreak of the coronavirus.

Low said although there was an initial case of suspected coronavirus involving a seven-year-old boy from China, but tests conducted by the Kuala Lumpur Hospital found him negative about two days ago.

He said the boy had first sought treatment at a private clinic in Ayer Keroh for fever on Jan 24.

“The clinic wanted to refer the case to the Melaka Hospital, but the boy’s family refused to do so and instead, took the boy to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, where he was tested negative for the coronavirus, ” he added.

"Please don't cause a panic in Melaka by sharing fake news," he added.

~The Star~