Recovered COVID-19 patients risk getting re-infected if defy MoH's advice

Patients who fully recovered from COVID-19 and allowed to be discharged from hospitals can be infected by the virus again if they defy advice issued by the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said although the possibility of them being infected again is very low, they are advised to maintain cleanliness and self-hygiene to prevent getting the virus again.

“There is the possibility of the patients to be re-infected, but before they are discharged from the ward, we advise them to take preventive measures by maintaining their self-hygiene and cleanliness to avoid being infected by the virus again.

“If those who have been discharged do not maintain their cleanliness and do not take precautions, they can be re-infected, but the chance of them to be re-infected is slim,” he told a daily press conference here today.

He advised patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to adopt a healthy lifestyle and to always take precautionary measures as advised by MoH.

So far, he said, there have been no cases of recurrence during the first and second wave of the outbreak in the country.

On the cause of the COVID-19 infection in Kampung Datuk Ibrahim Majid and Bandar Baru Datuk Ibrahim Majid in Simpang Renggam, Kluang, Johor, he said the matter was being investigated.

“From preliminary investigation, we have found that there may be four clusters associated with the tabligh congregation.

“There are four index cases who attended the tabligh assembly at the Sri Petaling Mosque. Perhaps, they returned to the village to attend weddings and also joined mosque congregation for prayers that the virus spread to villagers in the area," he said.

On the latest number of tabligh participants who were screened, he said MoH screened 13,762 individuals with a total of 12,317 samples taken.

Of the total samples screened, 1,137 were positive, 6,623 negative and 4,557 still pending, he added.

-- BERNAMA