KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry (MoH) has urged Covid-19 patients undergoing home quarantine to update their status twice a day on MySejahtera.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said failure to do so would affect the effectiveness of the Virtual CAC (Virtual Covid-19 Assessment Centre).
He said although the percentage of patients updating their health status via the Health Assessment Tool (HAT) on MySejahtera had increased from 40 per cent to 55 per cent between Jan 22 and Feb 20, the total was still considered low.
"It is important for patients to report to HAT twice a day, before noon and 6pm, for the Ministry to monitor their condition.
"Though a majority of the cases were under Categories 1 and 2 when they were first diagnosed, but there were cases where their conditions worsened and were later admitted to Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres or hospitals," he said in a statement today.
He said the Virtual CAC was able to detect cases with deteriorating conditions and alert them for an assessment at the CAC.
"Cases that report symptoms with warning signs will be alerted via SMS, Automated Voice Recording (robocall) or a call from health officers.
"Hence, it is crucial for cases under home monitoring to report their health status via HAT," he stressed.
Dr Noor Hisham said as of Feb 23, the Virtual CAC has been monitoring 361,283 Covid-19 patients who are under home monitoring.
He said in line with the increase of Covid-19 cases in the country, the total number of cases that needed to be assessed at the CAC was also on the rise since the third epidemiological week (EW), starting Jan 16.
"The highest was between Feb 13 and 19 where 150,064 cases needed to be present at CACs.
"Hence, asymptomatic cases (Category 1) and those with mild symptoms (Category 2A) do not need to go to CACs.
"Cases under these categories need to report their health status via HAT MySejahtera twice a day.
"In the event patients failed to complete the health assessment, they will be reminded through SMS or a robocall," he said.
He said cases under Category 2B and above need to be present at CACs.
"Cases with worsening symptoms and warning signs will be contacted by health officers for further assessment.
"Go to the nearest hospital or call 999 if your condition deteriorates. Contact the Virtual CAC Helpline at 03-77239299 for further enquiries."
Category 1 is for patients who are asymptomatic while patients in Category 2A have symptoms such as a sore throat or flu without fever or shortness of breath, cough without fever or shortness of breath, loss of sense of taste but still have an appetite, loss of sense of smell, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting and are still able to do daily activities despite muscle aches and shortness of breath.
Patients in Category 2B have a persistent fever for two days or more, breathing difficulty when doing activities, chest pain, loss of appetite, tiredness, or experiencing worsening symptoms (cough, nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea), a low level of consciousness and reduced urination during a 24-hour period.