UP to 80% of Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases are asymptomatic or show mild symptoms only, said Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said that the recent spike in number of cases in Sabah also showed a similar trend, with most cases falling under the two categories.

“If we look at the (Covid-19 cases) in the whole country, 70-80% of infections are at Levels 1 and 2.

“Similarly, that is what we detect in the state of Sabah, where 70-80% of the infected are at Levels 1 and 2,” he said in a virtual press conference today.

Category 1 Covid-19 patients are asymptomatic, Category 2 patients are those who display mild symptoms, while Category 3 patients experience mild inflammation of the lungs but do not need respiratory assistance.

Category 4 patients are those who experience inflammation of the lungs and need to be given oxygen but not a ventilator.

Category 5 patients are those who have experienced severe inflammation of the lungs and needed to be placed on a ventilator.

Dr Noor Hisham said that despite their Category 1 or 2 diagnosis, patients still need to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

He said patients tend to have a low cycle threshold (CT) value within the first 10 days, which makes for a high infection high.

“When the CT value is low, the infection is very high, so we have to quarantine or isolate them (patients) for at least 10 days.

“After 10 days, the infection rate is less, meaning the CT value might be high. That might be the end of the infection period,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the virus could be contagious within the first 10 days and despite that, patients will be quarantined for 14 days. 

“After 14 days, although the Reverse Real-Time Polymerase Chain (rT-PCR) test is still positive, (the patient’s) immunity is very low.

“So, the high infection rate is (usually) before the 10th day,” he said. – October 16, 2020.