COVID-19: Difficult to ascertain cause of death - Dr Noor Hisham

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has stated that it was difficult to ascertain the cause of death, whether due to COVID-19 or complications of the virus.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry was currently reviewing the matter before updating the patient's death data.

"For example, it is a positive COVID-19 disease, but the virus may have reached the heart and caused blood clots in the heart, and (the patient) died of heart disease.

"So, (the question) now is did the patient die of heart disease or COVID-19.

"We had a hard time finding the cause of death, but of course if a person is a COVID-19 victim but he committed suicide, then we can separate the two.

"Or he (COVID-19 patient) was involved in a road accident, so the death was due to a road accident," he said in a daily press conference here today.

Earlier, in the same press conference, Dr Noor Hisham announced that another COVID-19 related death was recorded in the country, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths in Malaysia to 117 cases.