Health DG again calls for Malaysians to adhere to MCO

By Xavier Kong

HEALTH director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah again called for Malaysians to adhere to the Movement Control Order (MCO), especially in the month of Ramadan and the upcoming Hari Raya celebrations, citing the Pengerang cluster as an example of how the virus could spread.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, the cluster saw the index patient travelling to Selangor before the MCO was implemented to visit family members, with the 15 people in the cluster coming from family members as well as co-workers.

The latest numbers have another 103 recoveries, for a total of 3,452 recoveries in total. Fifty new cases were also reported, for a total of 5,532 confirmed cases. Of these, 1,987 remain active and are being treated, with 43 cases being treated in intensive care units, of which 25 are on ventilator support. Another death was reported as well, bringing the death toll to 93.

On the topic of the medical experts from China, samples have been taken from them and their movements monitored. There are no symptoms among them, and discussions are in progress with knowledge-sharing regarding best practices in handling the virus between Malaysian experts and their Chinese counterparts.

Dr Noor Hisham also guided that the Ministry of Health will be presenting its data and findings to the National Security Council “maybe four days before April 28.” A decision will then be made by the NSC about whether or not the MCO will be extended or lifted.

Another shift to the guidelines is that general physicians are to treat all Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) patients as Covid-19-positive cases until proven otherwise, as a measure of precaution.

On the matter of the antigen rapid test kits from South Korea, discussions are currently government to government, and will be deployed as a complement to the PCR tests that are currently being used for diagnosis. The kits are expected to arrive by next week at the latest, with the hangup being logistics and the high global demand. – April 22, 2020