Iron out hiccups in the system

ON Monday, Feb 7, I became part of the official Health Ministry statistics.

After a few lucky escapes over the last two years, my worst fears came true – I was Covid-19 positive.

The official numbers of that particular day was 11,034 and I was part of the 70 plus per cent that was categorised as Stage 2, which is symptomatic but with “mild” symptoms.

In my case, these symptoms were very much like a typical case of flu – cough, cold and sore throat. I developed the symptoms on Sunday night and when I woke up the next morning I took an RTK. The test was positive, but just to be sure, I called up my doctor to take a PCR test.

I self-quarantined while waiting for the result and when that was confirmed, I updated my MySejahtera. This was a straightforward procedure where you are requested to fill in a form with your symptoms and based on this, you are then categorised.

A Home Surveillance Order (HSO) is issued with a typical quarantine period of between seven and 10 days.

If your symptoms worsen, you are requested to go to the nearest Covid Assessment Centre (CAC) and where the staff will decide if you need to be warded.

As I am writing this after my quarantine period has ended, I can surmise that the entire system of recording, quarantining and reporting does work but it does have its faults too.

MySejahtera works as a digital tracing app and if you are positive, you will be asked to answer questions on your health twice a day. Other than symptoms, you are also requested to fill in temperature, blood pressure as well as oxygen level readings.

The last reading is particularly important because typically, coronavirus patients tend to have low oxygen levels – below 95 – an indication that you may require immediate hospital admission.

The problem here is that not every household has all three devices that can read your temperature, blood pressure and oxygen levels. So updating your MySejahtera without these readings can be dangerous as your true health condition may not be discerned.

Based on the date of your symptoms, the app will also prompt you to disclose names of your close contacts, in my case up to four days to my symptoms occurring.

But this is where the discrepancies occur. While my HSO started on Feb 7, a few of my close contacts were given HSOs starting from Feb 8 while others were requested to home quarantine on Feb 7 itself.

And there were also problems with the quarantine period. Mine was a full seven days (I quarantined a further three days on my own accord just to be certain) while close contacts are given a five-day HSO unless they develop symptoms.

But out of the 10 people in my list (all were negative), two of them were inexplicably given five days plus a further five days despite not showing or indicating that they had symptoms.

The PCR test results do not indicate the variant of Covid-19 I contracted, but based on my symptoms, I can safely assume it was Omicron, the highly infectious but less deadly variant of the coronavirus.

Research has shown that getting the virus after having got a booster jab means that your antibody levels are through the roof. However, no one in his right mind would want to get Covid-19.

But the lesson I learnt this past week is to be prepared for this eventuality. There are 20,000 plus daily cases of Omicron but 99% of these cases are in categories 1 and 2, which means little or no symptoms.

As we transition to an endemic stage, we have to accept the reality that anyone can get infected. Being positive doesn’t mean that you have to be ostracised by your friends and colleagues.

Get the booster because only in very rare instances, it is the unvaccinated that will risk dying from Covid-19.

The rest of us who get the virus will likely experience a bad flu bug but be back on our feet in seven to 10 days. The important thing is to be prepared as scientists are already predicting that you can expect to get the virus twice a year.

The Health Ministry is advocating RTK over PCR tests. This doesn’t mean that the former is a more accurate gauge than the latter. Taking a PCR is expensive and involves a visit to either a government or private medical facility.

I was fortunate I had already bought RTK kits and had several in hand when I needed them. There isn’t a shortage of these kits, as some social media users are claiming, but a quick check at your local pharmacy will show that the cheapest RTK is retailing for RM8.50.

I bought mine for RM4.90 but even at this price I feel it is too expensive. If the government wants the people to test more often, then the price of RTKs has to come down.

Every household should and must have a number of these kits. Testing frequently – once or twice a week – should be the norm and should be actively encouraged.

Denmark has effectively declared Covid over and a number of other European countries have followed suit. Denmark is the first EU country to eliminate mask mandates, vaccine passports and isolation protocols.

There are merits and flaws to their thinking, but Malaysia isn’t about to take this route. But we do need to let people know that with only 0.5% of daily cases requiring hospitalisation or worse, life has to go on.

Use your common sense. If you are unwell, stay at home. Practise good hygiene, avoid crowded places, wear masks, sanitise often, test frequently and, most importantly, get your booster jab.