KUALA LUMPUR – The government has been urged to immediately rescind its policy allowing Covid-19 patients to undergo self-isolation after a growing number of mortalities involving positive cases were reported at home.
Health experts said there are many disadvantages in allowing home quarantine, mainly because individuals may not know how to properly assess themselves, which is especially worrying in the event of any health complication.
They instead called on the government to open more low-risk quarantine centres or use powers provided under the emergency order to immediately utilise hotels and multipurpose halls for this purpose.
Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said the home quarantine policy for positive patients must be immediately reviewed following what he described as unnecessary deaths of Malaysians in recent weeks.
“We know many low-risk patients now undergo isolation at home. But if healthcare personnel cannot monitor their situation daily, it is just so stressful. Alone, many will not know how to assess their own health,” he told The Vibes.
“The government must know that one’s health can deteriorate very quickly, and the oxygen level can drop significantly without the person even realising it.
“Now, it is just a question of whether the government wants to use its emergency powers to take over facilities and convert them into low-risk centres.”
Malaysiakini reported earlier today that 73 out of the 512 recorded Covid-19 fatalities since December were brought in dead, of which 10 recorded in the last week alone.
However, the report did not specify if all the cases involved individuals who have earlier tested positive and were asked to undergo home quarantine.
The government last month announced that patients with mild or no symptoms will be allowed to recover at home, as public healthcare facilities become overwhelmed due to an increasing number of daily infections.
Dr Lee said home quarantine is bad for several reasons, including that it is more cumbersome to monitor patients, additional administrative burden to screen individuals for suitability for self-isolation, risk of delay in treatment and high risk of transmission to caretaker and family members.
Negotiate with hotels not operating under MCO
Like Dr Lee, Malaysian Medical Association president Prof Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy believes that a better solution to addressing overwhelmed public health facilities is to open more low-risk quarantine centres.
He said with hotels currently not operating due to the movement control order (MCO), the government could easily negotiate with operators to utilise their facilities.
“They (the government) have the power to do so under the emergency ordinance. But of course, the hotels should be fairly compensated, including for room charges, as well as sanitisation and disinfection.”
Subramaniam said if the home quarantine is to continue, it is incumbent that the government provide more information to patients on the signs and symptoms to look out for while at home, and the actions to be taken if they experience any.
Another medical doctor, who requested anonymity, also believes quarantine under surveillance is the better option, pointing out that the government can now “take over buildings, facilities and resources to combat Covid-19”.
However, he said if the government opts to continue self-isolation, there must be an alert system in place that could immediately notify the Health Ministry should any patient experience deteriorating health.
He said those isolating at home should also be provided with basic medical apparatus, such as a pulse oximeter and digital thermometer, to ensure that they are able to constantly self-assess.
“Also, health officers must visit all the patients at least once every few days, while patients should not take any symptom lightly.” – The Vibes, February 8, 2021
