KUALA LUMPUR – A total of 12,654 discharged Covid-19 patients have been given appointments for follow-up treatment at health facilities for monitoring purposes and treatment of Long Covid symptoms.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that there are two stages of Long Covid.
The first is the ongoing symptomatic Covid-19 symptoms, where patients still experience the signs and symptoms of Covid-19 for between four to 12 weeks.
The second is the post-Covid-19 syndrome, where symptoms can last more than 12 weeks and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.
“Based on the observation of these patients, there are five major symptoms faced by Long Covid patients.
“They are lethargy (79.2%), breathing difficulties while doing certain activities (52.6%), coughing (17.2%), difficulty sleeping (14.6%) and anxiety (10.6%),” Khairy said in his written parliamentary reply to Lim Kit Siang (Iskandar Puteri-DAP).
Khairy said comprehensive rehabilitation services specifically for Long Covid patients are being conducted at Hospital Sg Buloh.
“Starting from November 2020 until July 31, 2021, some 2,388 Category 4 and 5 (patients) have been discharged from Hospital Sg Buloh and referred to the service.
“The service covers 1,545 people, and in terms of outcome, 41.2% has recovered after four weeks of being discharged from the hospital,” he said.
There have been 52 deaths caused by variants of concern (VOC) up until August 25, said Khairy.
He said 23 are in hospital while 29 were brought-in-dead (BID) cases as at August 25.
Of the total, 25 involve the Delta variant, seven from the Beta variant, and 20 from non-VOCs.
“From the 29 BID cases, at least 20 of them are caused by the Delta variant,” he said.
On whether the government would use the emergency ordinance to take over private medical facilities to reduce overcrowding at public institutions, Khairy said there are a few steps to consider before the ministry comes to that stage.
He said that one of the measures includes expanding the capacity of all public hospitals treating Covid-19.
“(This also includes) the opening of more low-risk quarantine centres to treat Category 3 and 4 patients and the opening up of field hospitals like the ones in Labuan, Medan in Kapit, Sultanah Aminah Hospital, Melaka Hospital and others.
“(This also includes) the establishment of modular intensive care units in several states to cater to the increasing need of ICU treatment,” said Khairy, adding that the ministry will work with other facilities like military hospitals.
In the Klang Valley, the Health Ministry has taken over some hospitals, such as the children’s specialist hospitals and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital.
“The facility provides 199 beds, 102 non-ICU beds and 97 ICU beds,” said Khairy in response to Selayang MP WIlliam Leong Jee Keen’s query on the possibility of the government taking control of private hospitals to handle the increasing number of Covid-19 patients.
The Health Ministry spent more than RM470 million on ICU beds, ventilator machines, ECG machines and blood pressure sets last year and allocated more than RM429 million for medical equipment this year.
Khairy said that the funds are meant to equip all medical facilities nationwide based on the needs of each facility.
“More fundings will depend on the financial position of the government,” he said in response to Sabri Azit (Jerai-PAS), who asked whether the government will increase funding for hospital equipment. – The Vibes, September 16, 2021
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