KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — The Health Ministry announced that long Covid-19 patients will undergo medical rehabilitation for extended care.

Its minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that the programme will be led by a medical rehabilitation centre that will involve joint management by a core team of rehabilitation physicians, medical officers, physiotherapy medical rehabilitation personnel, occupational rehabilitation and nurses.

He added that depending on the needs of a specific case, speech and swallowing recovery specialists, social medical officers, counsellors, nutritionists and pharmacists will also be consulted.

"Comprehensive assessments involving key functional domains namely the respiratory system, musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular system, functional status, and emotional and psychosocial assessments will be performed to determine a personalised rehabilitation programme and prescriptions at safe intensity rates according to the individual needs of the case in question,” he said.

He further said that the programme’s aim would be to address symptoms, minimise the impact on daily activities as well as speed up the full recovery process.

The programme will be offered at several hospitals nationwide, including Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital, Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Sungai Buloh Hospital, Penang Hospital, Melaka Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, among others.

"The Ministry of Education Malaysia such as University of Malaya Medical Centre, Universiti Teknologi Mara Medical Centre as well as private facilities such as ReGen Hospital, Daehan Sunway, Prince Court also provide special rehabilitation programme services to address the symptoms of long Covid,” he added.