THERE has been no significant increase in readmission to intensive care units among Long Covid patients in the past two weeks, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

However, he said there were currently patients returning to hospitals after being discharged and treated based on the symptoms and signs of Long Covid. 

“For death cases, there is no specific classification for Long Covid because death is recorded based on the cause of death. 

“Several studies are being conducted to find out more about this issue and the results will be announced when they are completed,” he said at a press conference in Putrajaya today. 

Khairy said based on the monitoring of patients with Long Covid symptoms, the five main symptoms often experienced were lethargy (79.2%), difficulty breathing while performing certain activities (52.6%), cough (17.2%), difficulty sleeping (14.6%) and anxiety (10.6%). 

Long Covid is a term used to describe the situation where some patients have long-term problems after recovering from the original infection.

Khairy added that without specific and structured treatment, these conditions can potentially persist and require a longer time for full recovery even after infection.

He said Malaysia will adopt the 3Rs recommended by the World Health Organisation to address long Covid, namely recognition, rehabilitation and research. 

Under recognition, Long Covid cases must first be identified as requiring specialised care, and guidelines and protocols must be established.

Rehabilitation is for when such cases are referred to a specialist hospital that can provide an interdisciplinary multi-specialist approach.

As for research, Khairy said various clinical studies involving medical specialties including rehabilitation are currently being conducted to understand in more detail the symptoms, risk factors, impact and outcome of Long Covid. – September 24, 2021.