Covid-19 positive patients in Klang wait at home for days

 

Klang Municipal Council (MPK) councillor Lee Fu Haw alleged that Covid-19 patients in Klang had to spend days at home after being tested positive for the disease before they were taken to a hospital.

Lee, who oversees the Bandar Sultan Suleiman area, said he received more than 10 complaints from patients or their family members who raised concerns about the risk posed to others due to the delay.

He said many of the complaints came from workers of a communications technology factory owned by Wistron Malaysia which, according to him, is linked to the Seruling Cluster.

The cluster recorded 1,297 positive cases as of noon yesterday. It had spread to 11 districts across Selangor, Perak, and Malacca.

"There were cases where these workers had to quarantine themselves at home for several days after being tested positive before an ambulance came to pick them up.

"In one of the cases, the patient was only taken to the hospital on the ninth day, and spent one night at the hospital before being discharged," he told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

Lee is involved in a joint effort between the local council, Health Ministry, police, and other authorities to combat Covid-19 at the ground level.

He said there was a case where a worker of the factory, who lives in Teluk Panglima Garang, was found positive for the virus and took the initiative to get his family members tested too.

The tests came back positive for three of his family members, aged 81, 54, and 14.

"This worker got tested on Dec 4, and the result came back positive on Dec 7. The same day, he sent his family members to get tested at a private laboratory.

"Unfortunately, three of them were also found positive. This worker, despite him being found positive (on Dec 7), was not picked up to be sent to the hospital for two days, until I learned about it and contacted the Kuala Langat district health office," he said.

In one of his latest cases, Lee said he received a plea from a man whose wife spent five days at home after being tested positive.

Despite charting high body temperature, he added, the woman has yet to be picked up to be sent for treatment.

"The man has called the 999 number hoping to get his wife taken to the hospital, but they told him that she needs to wait according to the name list.

"They told him that if his wife's situation became more serious, then call them (authorities). They said there is no emergency ambulance service," Lee said.

Besides Lee, Malaysiakini also received a direct complaint from the family member of a patient who is linked to the Seruling Cluster.

According to the person's email, his son had been under quarantine at home for three days after being tested for the virus. He lives with his wife and small child, according to the concerned father.

Following this, Malaysiakini managed to contact the person, who also happens to be a Wistron employee, who lives near Gombak.

According to the patient, whose identity is withheld to protect his privacy and safety, he and his colleagues took swab tests on Dec 3 before the results came back positive four days later.

"After being tested positive, I spent five more days at home. I was picked up in the evening of last Friday.

"However, I spent barely a day there, as the next morning I was discharged from the hospital. The doctor said that it had been some time after I did the test."

The patient also confirms what Lee said, that many of his colleagues were only picked up to hospital days after they were confirmed to have contracted Covid-19.

In an immediate response to queries regarding this matter, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah this evening said that the delays were caused by a lack of data coordination between private laboratories and the Health Ministry.

"In the cases of Covid-19 tests done with private labs, there are laboratories that have yet to have data integration with our public health information system.

"So, the first thing that we need to do now is to integrate these data on positive cases.

"All positive cases detected by private laboratories, they are required to inform their respective district health officer. After which, appropriate actions would be carried out," said Noor Hisham.

He also admitted that there were other constraints faced by the health authorities, including a delay in test results that led to the problem, and advised all those who got tested and suspect they had been exposed to Covid-19 positive patients to stay at home until they get their results.

The individuals were also urged to make sure they notified the nearest district health office about their cases. - Mkini