HEALTHCARE workers have been told to treat all patients as Covid-19 cases until tests show otherwise, said the Health Ministry.

This is due to 69 sporadic cases where the source could not be identified, said Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“We are informing all healthcare workers to treat patients as Covid-19 infections until proven otherwise as there were 69 cases that we don’t know were positive for Covid-19 until later,” said Noor Hisham at his daily press briefing in Putrajaya today.

“We have specifically told the public and private sector medical staff to take all the precautions when dealing with patients with severe acute breathing difficulties or those in ICU.

“Or even those who come into the clinic for screening,” he said.

Noor Hisham said 30 medical personnel have so far contracted Covid-19 from their patients.

“Thirty have been infected because of having worked in ICUs, infected by sporadic cases, or patients who were not diagnosed as Covid-19 patients.

“They got infected because they were not wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) as these were not Covid-19 patients.

“Same for those in the clinic who treat patients with cough and cold.”

He said the ministry has conducted 8,025 random tests and only 69 were positive for Covid-19.

Meanwhile, he said, the government’s 1,114 quarantine centres are capable of accommodating 150,000 people.

“Until today, we have screened 34,451 and have found 32 people with symptoms. They have been isolated and put into hospitals,” said Noor Hisham.

Effective April 3, all inbound travellers will be sent to the government’s quarantine centres for 14 days to prevent imported Covid-19 infections.

It was reported yesterday that more than 25,000 travellers had entered the country or returned since April 3 despite border restrictions. – April 7, 2020.