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Friday, February 18, 2022

Right move to focus on Covid-19 hospitalisation details, say experts

 

Details like the number of ICU patients and bed utilisation are more important now than daily case numbers, says Dr Lee Boon Chye. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Two health experts have commended health minister Khairy Jamaluddin for deciding to halt the separate release of daily Covid-19 case numbers.

Former deputy minister Dr Lee Boon Chye and virologist Dr Kumitaa Theva Das of Universiti Sains Malaysia told FMT they agreed that the release of hospitalisation details would be more effective in curbing the spread of the virus.

Lee said daily infection numbers had lost their meaning.

“Reported cases grossly underestimate the real number of new infections,” he said. “This is due to under-reporting as many people are doing self-tests and failing to notify the health ministry when they test positive.”

Dr Lee Boon Chye.

He pointed out that there was also under-testing as close contacts of positive cases were not routinely traced and tested. He cited the CovidNow website, which shows PCR testing had gone down from 220,000 tests per day to about 120,000 tests per day despite a record high in new infections.

“The most important reason for not reporting daily new infections separately is that the current Omicron wave appears less severe with less mortality because of the high immunisation status of the population and because Omicron is a milder variant,” he said.

“Hospitalisation details like the number of ICU patients and bed utilisation are more important.”

He said his only criticism of Khairy’s announcement was that it was made at a time when infections were reaching new highs. “It gives the impression that the health ministry is giving up.”

At a press conference yesterday, Khairy announced that the ministry would release the daily number of new cases along with data for bed utilisation, the number of patients in intensive care, the number of patients requiring respiratory assistance and other information.

Dr Kumitaa Theva Das.

Kumitaa said that although the country was recording more than 20,000 cases daily, it was “in a different place” compared to August 2021.

“At that point, we were not vaccinated; so more people were in Categories 3 to 5 due to the more prevalent Delta variant,” she said.

She said people were getting tested more frequently because rapid-test kits were readily available and affordable, driving the number of cases up.

“However, since most adults are vaccinated, the indicators we should look at now are completely different.

“Hospitalisation details will help doctors prevent the healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed, and circulating the positivity rates would enable localised mitigation steps,” she said.

Early this month, Dr Amar-Singh HSS, a consultant paediatrician, urged the government to sharpen its focus on Covid-19 hospitalisation rates to help the public keep tabs on the emergence of new variants and how severe they were.

He said the high vaccination rate in the country had reduced the importance of giving a daily account of infection rates.

The health ministry’s decision to stop the release of Covid-19 numbers separately comes into force today. Today’s daily case numbers will be released tomorrow. - FMT

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