PUTRAJAYA, April 4 — All those who have been diagnosed with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) at clinics and hospitals will be treated as Covid-19 positive cases until tests prove otherwise, Ministry of Health’s (MOH) director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.
At a press conference here earlier, he said that this was due to the potential of SARI patients to later test positive for Covid-19.
He said this was to protect frontline medical workers, especially after 12 of them were infected with Covid-19 after treating a patient with SARI.
“We do have issues with regards to SARI, the Severe Acute Respiratory Infection, and we have been monitoring SARI (cases) since January, looking at cases now.
“So protection is very important for us. Healthcare workers must take all the necessary precaution to avoid getting the infection,” he added.
Earlier, Dr Noor Hisham announced another 150 new cases of Covid-19 infections, bringing the total to 3,483 cases.
He said that out of the 150 new cases, 80 were related to the Sri Petaling Jamek Mosque tabligh gathering.