Level 1 and 2 Covid-19 patients to be treated at home, says minister

 

The government says Covid-19 patients being treated at home will be monitored by a task force.

PUTRAJAYA: Level 1 and 2 Covid-19 patients will undergo treatment and quarantine at home, while being monitored by health workers, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said.

He said a task force has been formed at the Crisis Preparedness and Emergency Response Centre and state and district levels to monitor patients being treated at home.

However, he said, patients with symptoms would be treated in hospitals with the usual monitoring being carried out.

“We are doing this as we need to act fast in treating and isolating positive cases. To this end, the ministry will continue with contact tracing to flatten the Covid-19 curve,” he told reporters here today.

Adham said the Level 1 and 2 patients would be quarantined at home for 10 days and a screening test would be conducted on them on the last day.

“The screening test will be done in their homes and if the result is negative, they are free from Covid-19,” he said.

He said ministry staff would assess the size of the house and number of occupants before allowing such patients to undergo treatment at home. If the house is small or crowded, the patients would be taken to hospital.

“If the facilities at home are satisfactory, with sufficient space for isolation, and the family understands the need for quarantine and the SOPs set by the ministry, they will be treated at home,” he said.

He said health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah would give further details soon.

On Jan 5, Noor Hisham said the ministry was considering isolating and treating Covid-19 patients who were without symptoms or with mild symptoms at home, as the existing health facilities were not able to cope with the surge in daily cases. - FMT