MOH and agencies monitoring heatwave

SERDANG: The Health Ministry is collaborating with other government agencies to track the conditions that could lead to heat stroke, says Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

The Health Minister also called on the public to seek medical assistance if they experience any symptoms.

“Visit the hospital if you have severe symptoms such as dehydration, muscle cramps and fatigue,” she told reporters at the ministry’s Hari Raya open house here yesterday.

“My ministry is working with other agencies, including the National Disaster Management Agency, to draft guidelines on dealing with heat stroke.”

On the resurgence of Covid-19 in Sabah’s Tuaran district, Dr Zaliha said the situation there is under control.

She said Covid-19 case management in the district was still based on parameters that had already been discarded by the ministry.

“Actually, there was no need to panic about the cases in Tuaran. Overall, the number of cases in Sabah is actually fewer than 100 weekly,” she said.

“In Tuaran, the Health Department was still using outdated criteria. Most of the cases fall within Categories 1 and 2.”

According to Sabah guidelines, the area would be categorised as a red zone for Covid-19 if there were more than 40 active cases.

Tuaran, located 40km from Kota Kinabalu, has been placed back in the red zone after recording a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam said the district recorded 26 new cases in the week from May 7-13, compared with 18 cases the week before.