COVID: Category 3 patients with comorbidities to be admitted to hospital, PKRC - Khairy

TAMPIN: Category 3 COVID-19 patients with comorbidity records will be admitted to hospitals and Quarantine and Low-risk Treatment Centres (PKRCs), for treatment and monitoring from doctors and healthcare workers, said the Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said for certain cases involving pregnant women, the elderly and where the condition of COVID-19 patients' homes are unsuitable for quarantine purposes, these groups would also be given priority to seek treatment at hospitals.

"However, for COVID-19 patients in the same category with no comorbidities, the MOH still recommends that they undergo quarantine at home.

"I wish to remind patients who are quarantined at home to always use the home assessment tool in the MySejahtera application, in an effort to reduce the brought-in-dead (BID) rate," he told reporters after visiting Tampin Hospital, here today.

He said that if health conditions deteriorated - difficulty experienced in breathing, chest pain or oxygen saturation less than 95 per cent, patients should immediately call an ambulance for follow-up treatment at hospital or PKRC.

Media previously reported that the MOH was urged to admit Category 3 COVID-19 patients to hospitals equipped with ICU facilities and essential equipment, instead of allowing them to undergo self-quarantine.

In another development, Khairy also praised the proactive efforts of all parties and healthcare workers in Negeri Sembilan, who have successfully transitioned to Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan (PPN) today with a decrease in COVID-19 infection cases and smooth vaccination process.

"The use of COVID-19 intensive care units (ICUs), respirators and hospital beds in the state is below 70 per cent. In the past month, patients who have been hospitalised due to COVID-19 have decreased from 899 to only 319 individuals.

"It is a decrease of 65 per cent in a month, and the number of daily infections has also dropped, thus showing the early success of the immunisation programme in Negeri Sembilan," he said.

Meanwhile, Khairy said Negeri Sembilan would receive 12,000 doses of CanSino vaccine in stages, namely, 2,000 doses on Sept 13 and the rest on Sept 27, for recipients in rural areas and Orang Asli settlements.

Following the state's success in reducing COVID-19 cases, he is also optimistic that similar changes will occur in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur in the near future, due to the high vaccination rates in both states, but differentiated by population density.

Khairy said that his ministry would not rush to open more sectors without carrying out a rigorous risk assessment, to ensure the opening of the country was carried out with a more careful and safe approach for the people of the country.

-- BERNAMA