KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 22 — Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 45 general practitioners have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

He reminded frontline medical workers to be extremely wary when treating patients with illnesses showing similar symptoms to Covid-19.

This comes after a patient with Covid-19 was initially diagnosed with dengue fever on March 16 at a private clinic, travelled across state lines to visit friends and family, fell critically ill on March 21.

"We have informed most of our front workers to be careful as not only dengue but pneumonia, and SARI (severe acute respiratory infections) cases, when they treat the patient sometimes they do not protect themselves.

"Once you’re a healthcare worker take all precautionary measures and there’s a high index of suspicion for SARI and ILI (influenza-like illness) cases that exist in the community,” said Dr Noor Hisham today during his daily Covid-19 briefings at Putrajaya.

"We already have 45 doctors who have been infected.

"So even if it’s a runny nose you have to protect yourself. We are telling our doctors treating SARI patients that all SARI patients will be considered as Covid positive until proven otherwise.

"So even if you don’t have the results yet you are going to treat them as positive rather than treat them without protection then get the results later on.”

Several days ago, several frontliners were reported to have contracted Covid-19 at their workplaces, with the source of infection either from fellow colleagues or while treating patients with the virus.

Dr Noor Hisham said they were among the total 275 health workers who have tested positive for the virus so far. He said 199 of these cases were infections that came from contacts with the community at large.

A significant number of the cases involving health workers have been previously linked to weddings attended by those present at the Sri Petaling tabligh event.