Health DG: Number of those 'brought in dead' on the rise

PETALING JAYA: The number of people who were "brought in dead" to hospitals, especially in the Klang Valley, has been increasing, says Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The Health director-general in a tweet on Sunday (May 16) said that a Covid-19 test would be conducted on the bodies before a post-mortem examination was conducted on the deceased.

He also tweeted a picture of two forensic department staffmembers of the Sungai Buloh Hospital on duty.

Dr Noor Hisham, however, did not indicate if they died due to Covid-19.

As of Sunday (May 16), a total of 1,902 people have died in the country from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic last year.

There were 471 deaths the whole of last year, but 1,431 have died in the first five months of this year.

In a tweet earlier on Sunday, Dr Noor Hisham pointed out that the 44 deaths reported on Saturday (May 15) was the highest ever number in one day. There were 36 deaths on Sunday (May 16)

"Every death is not just a statistic. Each of them is a father, mother, brother, sister, sibling or a dear friend," he said.

In a Facebook post, the Health Ministry said that the Sungai Buloh Hospital forensic department had to provide special containers to store the bodies of those who had died of Covid-19.

"Today, another six deaths were reported at the hospital. More than 80% of Covid-19 deaths in the country consists of the elderly or have chronic diseases or co-morbidities.

"Most of them were infected by their own family members. If you live with someone who is considered to be high risk, protect yourself to protect them," it said.