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Most Covid-19 patients under home quarantine, says Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR: As the country is in the transition to endemicity phase, almost 98 per cent of Covid-19 cases are under home isolation without the need to receive treatment at hospitals.

In a series of tweets, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said this was because a majority were only experiencing mild symptoms, thanks to the wide coverage of the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP).

According to data shared by the minister, 153,859 Covid-19 patients or 97.6 per cent of the total active cases are currently under home quarantine, two-per-cent are hospitalised, 0.2 per cent treated at Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC) while another 0.2 per cent are warded at intensive care units (ICU).

Khairy emphasised that the Health Ministry is however monitoring home quarantine cases via the Virtual Covid Assessment Centre (VCAC).

He said a total 586,303 home quarantine cases were being monitored via VCAC on March 8, during the peak of the Omicron wave.

"85 per cent of the home quarantine cases were asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.

"Cases monitored by VCAC started to decline in the second week of March, in line with the downtrend of daily cases," he said.

As of April 4, the VCAC was monitoring 175,845 home quarantine cases.

He said home isolation monitoring is crucial as the condition of some patients deteriorated and had to be referred to PKRCs or hospitals for further treatment.

"Although only a small numbers of cases, less than one per cent, were referred, it gives patients a peace of mind.

"VCAC monitoring is done via MySejahtera where patients are required to submit updates twice a day on their symptoms through the health assessment tool (HAT).

"More than 70 per cent of patients submitted the form everyday and this data is used to identify whether their condition worsened and they need to be referred to the hospital," he explained.

He added that should their condition consistently deteriorate, they would receive a warning alert, informing them to go to a nearby health facility for assessment.

"In the transitioning phase, VCAC via MySejahtera will be continued as this feature allows continued virtual monitoring by the Health Ministry, preventing CACs from overcrowding.

"To ensure the B40 families have better self-health assessment, more than two million Covid-19 Care Packages containing pulse oximeters, thermometers, self-test kits and masks had been distributed, and another one million will be sent," he said.

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