KUALA LUMPUR – In sharing that his family member tested positive for Covid-19, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said patients in home quarantine will only increase the nation's infection rate.
“If a patient remains at home, family members will get infected. So, more will be infected. Patients should instead be placed in quarantine separated from the family,” he said in a blog post last night.
“Recently, a family member has (contracted) Covid-19 but could not be admitted to hospital because the person only has mild symptoms and was told to quarantine at home.
“However, when the patient was at home, symptoms worsened to the point the person could not breathe. So, the patient was admitted to hospital.”
Dr Mahathir said if a patient is on home quarantine, the disease will spread to family members.
“I believe the patient could not get admitted earlier to hospital because the number of infected is too high. Every day, 4,000 (cases) are detected.
“If patients are in home quarantine, they will only further infect their family and increase the number of infected. They should be in quarantine, separated from their family.
“They should only be allowed to return home when they have fully recovered.”
He also highlighted that quarantine centres should be more appropriately designed.
“From the pictures I got, the beds are too close to one another and, when there’s a visit by a pembesar (leader), patients will gather. This will cause the infection to spread.”
While Dr Mahathir did not mention names, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had on Tuesday visited the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) 2.0 integrated hospital with an entourage comprising, among others, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba and Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
Photos of the visit depicted the prime minister and officials in a crowded, enclosed environment where the 1m social-distancing was not seen practised by members of the entourage or those present at the centre.
Dr Mahathir also said there are many ways to reduce the number of infections, adding he hoped that specialist doctors will discuss the situation with government officials on the matter.
“The services of the health director-general are greatly appreciated. But this pandemic is too big for one person to handle alone.”
In the blog post, Dr Mahathir reiterated his comment on Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah made last Sunday in an interview with Astro Awani.
“I would like to congratulate Dr Noor Hisham for his work, but one man is not enough. There needs to be ideas from more people… He is a brilliant doctor, but his opinion alone will not suffice.
“Perhaps, set up a panel of doctors on what is happening and what needs to be done,” he had said.
On Monday, Dr Noor Hisham had said that those newly infected with Covid-19 can now opt for home quarantine.
The criteria used to evaluate whether one can undertake self-isolation at their personal residences include being asymptomatic or having mild symptoms, not from a high-risk group (such as being elderly or having chronic illnesses), the presence of suitable caretakers and having sufficient space for self-isolation.
Among other steps, he advised these infected individuals to ensure they isolate themselves from other occupants of their homes, adding that the rooms they stay in should ideally have their own toilet facilities.
He added that infected individuals can contact the Covid-19 assessment centre or health clinics if symptoms worsen. They can also contact 999 in the event of an emergency. – The Vibes, January 23, 2021
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