THE Health Ministry (MOH) will maintain the Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) for the time being and examine seven key indicators before deciding to if it is necessary to put stricter measures in place.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry will first monitor the situation in the country and further strengthen public health control before taking action.

“We will first monitor not only hospital admissions but also many other indicators such as forecast cases, daily cases and so on.

“If the data shows marked change in all available indicators, we can discuss appropriate action at that time,” he said at the Health Minister’s engagement session with the media today.

Also present were Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa, health deputy director-general (public health) Dr Norhayati Rusli and Institute for Clinical Research director Dr M. Kalairasu.

Noor Hisham said indicators include a sudden increase in imported cases – currently, only three or four cases are recorded per month, and the discovery of new variants in sewage samples and at high-risk places.

“What worries us is that when a new variant is found, we are not sure whether our vaccine is effective or not. We will also check with WHO (World Health Organization) on whether another variant has been registered or not,” he said.

He said if a new variant other than Omicron is detected, the ministry will monitor the variant’s extent of infectivity and severity as well as hospitalisation rate.

Another indicator is the hike in cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) in selected health facilities. If records show a sudden increase in cases, the ministry will take more detailed measures to control them, he said.

Noor Hisham added that public health system capacity is also an indicator. For example, if bed occupancy and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions for Covid-19 patients exceed 30%, the ministry will take appropriate action.

The indicator that will also be monitored is the increase in deaths, which is currently in a single digit per day, and if there is a marked jump, the MOH will investigate the extent of the severity of the virus, he said. – Bernama, January 10, 2023.