Most Covid-19 Deaths Happen Because Of Late Treatment, Says M’sian Health D-G

Our best shot against this viral outbreak aside from prevention is early detection.

Most of the Covid-19 related deaths in the country happen because of late treatment, says Malaysian Health director-general, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah during a media briefing held yesterday (24th March), as reported by the Star. Patients only come to the hospital when they’re in the third stage but at this point, they’re already experiencing some form of pneumonia. 

“Stage one is where a person is asymptomatic but positive, while stage two is positive with mild symptoms, and stage three is when a patient has some form of pneumonia but does not require oxygen aid.”

“In stage four, a patient will require oxygen therapy and the last stage (stage five) is when patients cannot breathe well and we need to intubate them, and put them on a ventilator,” added the Director-general.

However, once the patient gets to stage four of the virus, they deteriorate almost immediately and move to the final stage, whereby they depend on ventilators to breathe:

“For example, the latest death, the patient already had breathing difficulty for the last three days.”

But of course, those aren’t the only factors that contribute to whether a patient diagnosed with Covid-19 will survive. Aside from late treatment there’s also age and comorbidities, as the general added that “most cases were above 70 years old.”

Nonetheless, Dr Noor Hisham acknowledges that in order for patients to be treated earlier, the Health Ministry has to enhance its case detection abilities.

“It means we will find the case, we test the case, and if it is confirmed, we isolate the case and give treatment.We will continue to do our best to look into the focus group. For example, now we know that 60% of the infections are among the tabligh group. We will go and find them and test them, ” he said while ensuring the public that measures would be taken so tested individuals will not infect others.

It doesn’t matter if the symptoms you’re showing are mild, it’s best to get yourself checked and know for sure before you unknowingly spread the virus around, or risk accelerating the growth of this disease in your body. Stay cautious and healthy, guys!