PETALING JAYA: The 83-year-old American who was the 22nd case detected with the novel-coronavirus (Covid-19) in Malaysia has shown signs of improvement in her health status, said Health director-general Datuk Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement today.
“The patient is still being monitored at the hospital for a slight cough,“ he said.
He also referred back to the press statement dated 15 Feb, in which the American was detected showing symptoms through a thermal scanner upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and was later referred to the Sungai Buloh Hospital.
“Clinical and chest x-ray examination confirm the patient has pneumonia,“ he said.
The patient was then admitted to the isolation ward at Sungai Buloh hospital, where clinical oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal samples were taken.
“The Covid-19 validation test for both samples was performed twice by the Medical Research Institute and both tests were positively validated on 15 Feb,“ he said.
He added that the patient has been given antiviral treatmeant such as lopinavir and Ritonavir as well as oxygen assistance for her symptoms.
“After more than 72 hours of treatment, the case has shown good health. Consequently, the Covid-19 validation test was performed 2 times with a 24-hour period for each test. Both of these repeated tests showed negative results,“
Noor Hisham said this repeat detection test was performed to confirm that the Covid-19 case was cured and negative.
“For information, according to the latest findings of the Covid-19 study, almost 80% of Covid-19 patients are reported to be patients with mild symptoms and no specific or antiviral treatment is required for the disease,“ he said.
He also said most patients only need symptomatic treatment (such as fever, cough and cold) and case isolation should be performed to prevent the spread of the disease to others.
“This is because, in most cases, the human immune system will produce specific antibodies against the virus,“
However, he said there are also those who do not have a strong immune system, such as the elderly, where the infection of the Covid-19 virus causes severe complications and requires the help of antiviral drugs.
He added that a repeat Covid-19 validation laboratory test will be performed on all positively confirmed cases, after the patient has shown good progress for the clinical symptoms he or she is experiencing.
“This is to ensure that the case is fully cured and free of the Covid-19 virus. This is important to ensure that the case is safe to be allowed to return and not to harm others,“ he said.
He was responding to news from USA Today, quoting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesperson Richard Quartarone as saying that the American patient “never had coronavirus to our knowledge,“ and that the patient may have respiratory illnesses, but not Covid-19.
