A pharmacist checks Covid-19 antigen rapid test kits. — Bernama photo
BINTULU (July 7): The Ministry of Health (MoH) has advised the people to conduct Covid-19 self-risk assessments in view of Hari Raya Aidiladha on Sunday (July 10).
In a Facebook post, the MoH said the people must act wisely to protect themselves and others from contracting the virus.
This follows the increase of Covid-19 cases in categories 3, 4, and 5 in the country and the detection of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant.
Covid-19 patients in Category 3 have lung infections, those in Category 4 have lung infections requiring oxygen, while those in Category 5 have lung infections requiring ventilator support.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Omicron BA.5 subvariant is highly infectious with faster transmission rates over its parent Omicron variant of concern (VOC).
MoH advised the people to practise Test, Report, Isolate, Inform, and Seek (TRIIS) in order to stop the transmission of the virus.
The ministry also reminded the people to continue practising all preventative measures to stay safe and healthy.
Yesterday, Health director general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said on Facebook that based on the results of respiratory virus surveillance in Malaysia recorded in the 26th week epidemiology that ended on July 2, most cases or 69 per cent were from Influenza A (H3), while 29 per cent involved the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19 infection.
He added most of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and Covid-19 symptoms are the same.
For ILI, he said patients would have a very bad cold with fever occurring suddenly with a body temperature above 38 degrees Celsius, while for Covid-19 there could also be a loss of taste and smell.
Dr Noor Hisham stressed that the above symptoms require a medical officer’s evaluation.
He said senior citizens and individuals with comorbidities, pregnant mothers, and children are at higher risk of being infected with Covid-19.
Pregnant mothers and children are also at high risk of getting bad infections if infected with influenza, he said.
According to him, the illness also spreads through coughs or sneezes, and hands touching contaminated things.
He stressed wearing face masks, hand washing, and high levels of personal hygiene are necessary methods of prevention.