THE Ministry of Health said 95% of dead on arrival (DOA) cases tested positive for Covid-19 during post-mortem.

“This means that most of them did not know they were infected with the virus, or could not reach a clinic or hospital in time for testing and treatment,” the ministry said in a written reply to Parliament today.

“Only 5% of the cases were diagnosed with Covid-19 before dying at home.”

According to the ministry, 69.1% or 150 out 217 DOAs (May 1-August 22, 2021) were handled by the authorities.

“Seventy-three per cent or 110 DOA cases had not even gone to the Covid-19 assessment centres. Only 27% (40 cases) of the victims died while they were under observation in a centre,” said the ministry.

The government was responding to Mohd Salim Sharif’s (Jempol-BN) question on the reasons for the high number of DOA cases.

The ministry also said the main reason why patients succumb to the virus at centre level was because of the delay to obtain an appointment there.

“The delay is caused by the centre’s inability to verify the cases after notification due to the lack of manpower.

“Other reasons are the inability of the centre to contact the patient due to wrong or insufficient information, the lack of available hospital beds, patients refusing to be admitted and the patient’s rapid deterioration,” the ministry said.

As a result of the various issues, the ministry has streamlined the work processes at centres to enable them to monitor Category 1 and 2 Covid-19 patients in quarantine at home.

“High risk patients will be referred to the hospitals,” it said.

The ministry has also activated virtual centres and is now supplying pulse oximeters to patients quarantined at home. – September 28, 2021.