PUTRAJAYA: It is difficult to determine the actual cause of death of the 117 Covid-19 fatalities recorded in the country so far, the Health Ministry said today.
It's director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the cause of death could either be due to the virus itself or complications caused by the novel coronavirus.
"Some of the patients died from a heart attack. For example, a patient tested positive for Covid-19, but the virus caused blood clots in the heart leading to a fatal heart attack.
"Thus, the question now is whether he/she died due to a heart attack or illness fron Covid-19. We have a tough time finding out the cause of death due to illness.
"If a patient is Covid-19 positive but he commits suicide, for example, then we can exclude his/her case, or if he/she is involved in a road accident, then the cause of death is a road accident," he explained.
He said these need to be looked into before the data is updated.