Late detection of Covid-19 infections has contributed to Malaysia’s fatality rate, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said, urging more tabligh attendees and their close contacts to come forward.
Besides being elderly and having a history of non-communicable diseases (NCD), most patients who have died only sought treatment by the time they developed pneumonia and needed oxygen, he said.
Pneumonia develops from the onset of late-stage Covid-19, according to Noor Hisham.
Malaysia recorded its 15th death from the coronavirus today and an increase of 106 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 1,624.
There are five stages of the Covid-19 infection, Noor Hisham told the daily press conference on the pandemic in Malaysia.
In the first stage, patients are asymptomatic but positive.
During the second stage, they have mild symptoms.
By the third stage, they have “some form of pneumonia, but do not require oxygen”.
Patients require oxygen at the fourth stage, and in the fifth stage, they cannot breathe, and need intubation and a ventilator.
“Of the deaths from the tabligh cluster, nine of them came to us at a very late stage. They had breathing difficulties and needed oxygen.
“Thereafter they deteriorate very fast. This has contributed to our fatality rate.
“So please come to get tested early,” Noor Hisham said.
He said older patients are also in the “high-risk group” of fatalities.
Of the 15 deaths to date, five were aged 70 and above. One was 69 and five were in the 50-60 age bracket. The youngest fatality was 34. – TMI