By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Dec 28: Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii is urging the Ministry of Health (MoH) to come up with proper home quarantine guidelines for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients.
Dr Yii pointed out that it is important for the ministry to educate the patients so that it will reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission especially among family members, following the revelation some patients did not fully comply with the home surveillance order (HSO).
“It is not merely staying at home, but proper isolation in a specific room and not sharing public places such as bathrooms, kitchens and et cetera.
“Ideally, the entire household must also self-isolate together at home to reduce risk of spreading it to the community or their place at work,” he said in a statement.
Dr Yii noted the recent statement by MoH director general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah calling for Covid-19 patients who were asymptomatic to undergo quarantine at home first due to insufficient numbers of hospital beds, was worrying.
Apart from that, Dr Yii also urged MoH to hasten contact tracing for close contacts to Covid-19 patients.
He believed the best way to curb the transmission of the coronavirus was faster contact tracing time, ideally within 24 to 48 hours.
While noting the comment by Dr Noor Hisham that many contact tracing cases took more than 48 hours, Dr Yii also urged MoH to hire more manpower if the ministry lacked staff to perform contact tracing.
Additionally, he also called on MoH to be more transparent and comprehensive in their strategy and even engage experts from different fields including those from the private sector to shape the approach towards containing Covid-19.
“In Malaysia, we do have experts in these fields and I have confidence in their expertise and abilities.
“But, we are mostly kept in the dark whether all experts are recruited and engaged properly to help in this war (against Covid-19) including those in the private sector so that there will be a “whole-of-society approach”.
“This will give confidence and acceptance towards our approach and also eventually the National Vaccination Strategy,” he added. — DayakDaily
