SIBU, Sept 19 — A follow-up study on some 1,500 Covid-19 patients under categories 1 and 2 here, is being conducted to ascertain the percentage of patients who fell into categories 3 to 5 later, said Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (SDDMC) coordinator, Dr Annuar Rapaee.
The Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing pointed out that the study is jointly conducted by SEGi University Sibu Clinical Campus and Sibu Divisional Health Office (DHO).
“Of course, there are cases of those under categories 1 and 2 deteriorating into categories 3-5 here.
“But we need a prospective study to be completed to provide a comprehensive data,” Dr Annuar, said during his live Facebook streaming yesterday, in response to a viewer who asked about the percentage of patients under categories 1 and 2 progressing into more severe categories that required hospitalisation.
Additionally, he explained that Sarawakians or non-Sarawakians intending to enter the state would have their application declined by Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) if they failed to enclose the results of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR).
On top of that, the rt-PCR must yield a negative result.
He pointed out that there was a vast difference between rt-PCR and RTK (Antigen Rapid Test Kit).
“So, if Sarawakians or non-Sarawakians wishing to enter the state but submit RTK results instead of rt-PCR as among the required documents, their application will automatically be rejected.
“It is very important for us to understand there is a huge difference between rt-PCR and RTK. The gold standard is the rt-PCR.
“Additionally, for their application to be approved, their rt-PCR results must be negative,” the Nangka assemblyman added.
He said this also applies to adolescents below 18 years old.
Dr Annuar also dwelled on the effectiveness of vaccines, saying the high vaccination rate in Sibu Division has greatly reduced the number of deaths.
“For the month of August and September, the percentage of death recorded due to Covid-19 infection was 0.50 per cent and 0.30 per cent respectively.
“It has been proven that vaccines have reduced the severity of the symptoms,” he pointed out.
He revealed that between Sept 12 and 17, category 1 had 788 cases (46.71 per cent) and category 2 with 897 cases (53.17 per cent) in the division.
There were only two cases or 0.12 per cent in category 3 while no cases were recorded for categories 4 and 5.
The assistant minister also touched on home quarantine and urged those who felt their place not suitable for such purpose to contact to the health office.
“They can be sent to low-risk treatment and quarantine centres (PKRC) for quarantine,” he said. — Borneo Post
