KUALA LUMPUR: About 10 to 15 per cent of people who have been infected with Covid-19 develop prolonged post-infection symptoms known as Long Covid.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said hospitals had been instructed to step up Long Covid rehabilitation facilities to manage patients with post-Covid symptoms.
"The ministry already has a protocol for treating Long Covid, mainly through our rehabilitative care services, which will be further strengthened.
"We are paying close attention to Long Covid cases, especially those involving high-risk categories," he told reporters after launching the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) complex and medical gas supply upgrade project at the National Leprosy Control Centre at Sungai Buloh Hospital here today.
Khairy said Long Covid presents a vast spectrum of symptoms, where some patients might suffer from shortness of breath and others reported prolonged fatigue, requiring a different treatment.
Deputy Health Minister Noor Azmi Ghazali had on Dec 8 last year said almost 20,000 patients in Malaysia who recovered suffered from post-Covid-19 syndrome, or Long Covid.
Noor Azmi had said based on observations, there were five main symptoms exhibited by those with post-Covid-19 syndrome, namely lethargy (78.9 per cent), breathing difficulties when performing certain tasks (52.9 per cent), coughing (18.1 per cent), insomnia (14.5 per cent) and anxiety (10.4 per cent).
He had also said those suffering from Long Covid would usually experience symptoms from four to 12 weeks after recovery, with some patients experiencing such symptoms for even longer.