91 per cent BID cases unaware they had Covid-19 - Khairy

SERDANG - About 91 per cent of brought-in-dead (BID) cases involving Covid-19 were unaware they had contracted the virus, said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said this was based on an analysis done by the Health Ministry on 113 BID cases between Feb 5 and 21.

"We saw an increase in BID cases, those who died before they could get treatment at health facilities, and this is worrying.

"We have done an analysis for this period and found that 91 per cent did not realise they contracted Covid-19 ... they were found positive when the ministry did tests,” he told a press conference here today on the Covid-19 situation.

In this connection, Khairy advised the public especially senior citizens with symptoms like fever and cough to immediately seek treatment at health facilities.

"Based on the survey by MOH, more than 50 per cent of the next-of-kin considered their sickness as mild and did not quickly refer to health facilities, and it was too late by the time it was detected,” he said.

On reporting for Covid-19 deaths, Khairy said that beginning March 1, the announcement of such fatalities would be based on the figure received from the field every day.

"The Health Ministry has improved the reporting process for deaths. Previously, deaths reported would only be announced after the process of registering the cases was completed at the state level.

"Therefore, there was a delay on the announcement for a number of cases (deaths), and this is a contributing factor to the backlog on announcement of Covid-19 deaths,” he said.

To ensure timeliness in reporting of Covid-19 deaths, fatal cases no longer have to wait for registration and should be reported within 72 hours after the deaths happened, he said.

Khairy said occupancy in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for Covid-19 patients is still under control, adding that the ministry has 2,210 ICU beds which can be used throughout the country.

"Most of the ICU cases are those with high risks. So far, there are 361 Covid-19 patients in ICU,” he added. - BERNAMA