HEALTH authorities must not overlook Covid-19 patients with mild or no symptoms who are in quarantine at home lest their conditions suddenly worsen or they infect others, health experts said.

Of particular concern are those who fail to update their health status on MySejahtera.

It is government policy for non-critical Covid-19 cases to self-quarantine to ease the strain on the healthcare system and keep the beds for patients in need of care.

It has been found that about half the cases in home quarantine do not report their health status to the health authorities, said Professor Dr Moy Foong Ming at Universiti Malaya’s epidemiology and evidence-based medicine centre.

Some Covid-19 positive people choose not to report their diagnosis at all, she said.

Moy said some cases do not stay in quarantine for the required period and they could infect others.

“We don’t know how many of these people are around and I’m afraid they could be a ticking time bomb.

“If they do not report themselves regularly on the MySejahtera app, officials will not know the actual situation.

“If their condition suddenly deteriorates, these asymptomatic individuals will not get intervention soon enough,” Moy said. 

She said asymptomatic cases could also develop symptoms later in the course of infection.

If they report their symptoms, they will be advised to reset the quarantine clock and begin their 10-day quarantine period all over again from the day their symptoms show, she said.. 

“If you don’t know this and stick to the original 10 days of quarantine, you will then be release too early from quarantine.”

Former deputy health minister Lee Boon Chye, meanwhile, said the government is too much focused on vaccination its when it should also be looking at other containment measures.

He repeated his call for more efficient contact tracing and controls and restrictions even for the fully vaccinated.

As it is, the government appears more interested in speeding up vaccination so as to relax controls and reopen as many sectors as possible. This works to minimise serious illness and reduce mortality, but new cases will remain high. 

“Contact tracing is required. Close contacts must be quarantined (traced and tested) to ensure that there is no more risk of infection before they can be released. There must be manpower to carry this out,” said Dr Lee.

UPM virologist Dr Chee Hui Yee suggested that the cycle threshold or CT value should be included as an indicator to decide whether quarantine should be extended.

She said that if the patient’s CT value is low, it means that virus load is high and more time is needed to fight the infection

Chee said a friend of hers ended up being in quarantine for 21 days because his viral load took time to  Even after 14 days of quarantine, his CT value was still low, which meant his viral load was high.

“So I can’t say that a 14-day quarantine is good enough,” she said.

Chee said only an RT-PCR test will show a patient’s viral load and whether the person is recovering.

“Many are now using self-test kits at home but the score will be affected by the way you collect your sample and whether you used the kit correctly. 

“So I still recommend going to the clinic and getting a professional RTK-AG screening test,” she said.

She also advises patients in home quarantine to undergo a second RT-PCR screening at the end of their self-isolation. – August 25, 2021.