THE number of dead-on-arrival (DOA) cases have multiplied by a staggering seven times since April this year, and the upward trend is worrying, said director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. 

Noor Hisham said that Malaysia had recorded a total of 4,856 Covid-19 deaths from the start of the year till July 2 and out of that number, 670 were DOA cases. 

“The Ministry of Health (MOH) has recorded a total of 5,327 deaths since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“Meanwhile, a total of 4,856 deaths were reported in 2021. Of the total deaths in 2021, a 670 deaths before arrival at the hospital were reported. 

“The National CPRC analysis also found that there was an increase in the trend of dead on arrival cases, which was seven times more from April (35 cases) to June 2021 (246 cases),” Dr Noor Hisham said in a statement today. 

Malaysia reported 73 fatalities today and of them, 13 were DOA cases.

Noor Hisham said that the three states to report the most DOA are Selangor with 181 cases, followed by Sabah with 85 cases and Kuala Lumpur with 78 cases. 

The health D-G said that those who were pronounced dead upon arrival are mostly above the age of 50, which makes up more than 70% of the cases. Most had at least one underlying medical condition. 

“Most of these dead-on-arrival deaths were from the 50 to 70 years age group (76.7%) with at least one comorbidity (64.5%).

Noor Hisham urged the public to be vigilant in monitoring their own health, especially when they are confirmed positive and placed on home quarantine. 

He advised the public to take these precautionary steps:

– Get checked immediately if symptoms appear or if they have been in contact with positive case; 

– Do not leave the house when under self-quarantine while awaiting test results and notification from the District Health Office and Covid-19 Assessment Centre (CAC); 

–  Notify MOH through the self-notification function in the MySejahtera app as well as the district health office or nearest CAC if found to be positive either through RT-PCR or RTK-Antigen testing.

Noor Hisham also said individuals should seek immediate treatment if they display “warning signs”. 

He said such warning signs are indicators that the condition of a Covid-19 patient is worsening.

Among the warning signs outlined by the MOH are prolonged fever, difficulty in breathing, chest aches, loss of appetite, worsening fatigue, changes in mental consciousness, confusion, coughing, vomiting, and worsening diarrhoea, reduced urination, bluish lips or fingers, and oxygen saturation dipping below 95%.

Noor Hisham advised family members or people living under the same roof to pay close attention to the changing conditions of Covid-19 patients under home quarantine by utilising technology to communicate with the patient.

Noor Hisham also said that the ministry is taking the necessary steps to improve the monitoring process by CACs nationwide to enable comprehensive initial assessments to be done immediately on positive cases. 

He added that the ministry will be increasing laboratory capacity to enable more testing to be conducted. – July 2, 2021.