The public and patients must be truthful in providing information regarding their history and close contacts with regard to Covid-19, urged Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah.
In a Facebook post this morning, he said there have been several incidents this week where patients concealed their contacts or symptoms.
“Travel history and close contact information, for example, those linked to the tabligh gathering at the Seri Petaling Mosque were also not being revealed.
“Only after clinical procedures and treatment were completed that such critical information was disclosed,” he added.
By this time, Hisham said the safety of healthcare workers and facilities were compromised.
“It is a crime not to reveal or hide information.
“I appeal to the public and patients to please be truthful and not to hide information and risk our lives and facilities,” he added.
Under the Health Ministry guidelines, healthcare workers who have treated confirmed Covid-19 patients without the appropriate personal protective equipment are considered “close contacts”.
They would be required to undergo testing for the disease and a 14-day quarantine.
In a Twitter post yesterday, a medical doctor highlighted how a man “lied at a klinik kesihatan about (his) history of going to the tabligh gathering and then tested positive.”
“Now, all the staff in contact (with him) had to be quarantined and possibly could be infected,” he said.
As of yesterday, Malaysia recorded a total of 900 Covid-19 cases, the majority of which was linked to the mosque gathering in Kuala Lumpur which took place from Feb 27 to March 1.
Defence Minister Ismail Sabri said 4,000 of those who attended the event have not come forward for testing. It was reported that 14,500 Malaysians and 1,500 foreigners participated in the gathering.
According to Reuters, the authorities are also tracking down some 2,000 Rohingya who were linked to the mosque cluster.
In Labuan, police were called in when a Tabligh gathering attendee's father refused to go for screening.
Labuan district police chief Muhamad Farid Ahmad confirmed several video clips circulated on social media showing health officers and police officers in protective equipment taking in the 68-year-old man. - Mkini
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