Previously, death reports are announced only after the registration process at the state level completes

by AUFA MARDHIAH / pic by BERNAMA

THE Health Ministry (MoH) has improved its death reporting process, and reports on Covid-19 deaths will be made daily.

Previously, death reports were announced only after the registration process at the state level was completed, which took a long time.

To meet the timeliness of Covid-19 death reporting, deaths need to be reported within 72 hours. Until March 2, the median turnaround time for reporting death cases in Malaysia was three days.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar asserted that the number of deaths announced is not the number of deaths in one day.

“One death is reported within 72 hours and takes four to six weeks to be announced for cases that require further investigation,” he said in a press conference yesterday.

On March 2, 54% of the 115 deaths announced occurred within 72 hours, while the remaining 46% were over 72 hours.

Malaysia recorded 115 Covid-19 deaths on March 2, which is the highest since the Omicron wave hit the country.

Khairy Jamaluddin said the method of reporting death cases was also changed to get a better indication of what is currently happening.

“The severity of Omicron is much less compared to the Delta variant, the clinical care pathway for Covid-19 patients is improving and vaccination is giving better protection, which helps reduce the fatality rate,” he added.

According to MoH’s data, individuals aged 70 and above have better protection once they receive the booster vaccine.

MoH had also recorded many undetected brought-in-dead (BID) cases from Feb 5 to 21, where 91% of 113 cases were found to be unaware of being Covid-19 positive.

The assumption was that the deceased experienced very mild symptoms and had not sought treatment.

As for control measures in schools, Khairy Jamaluddin said most of the cases involved boarding schools, hence the standard operating procedures at boarding schools will be tightened.

“Parents are also advised against sending their children to school if they are experiencing symptoms,” he added.

Meanwhile, Khairy Jamaluddin said he will be meeting the parents of 13-year-old Revnesh Kumar, who allegedly died after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine injection at the Presint 18 Health Clinic on Dec 30, last year, today.

“It is better to meet the parents of the boy first before anything is announced because the details of health and death are confidential,” he said.

On Feb 26, a portal reported that the parents of the boy who died a few weeks after being vaccinated called on the relevant parties to explain the cause of death.

The boy is said to have collapsed inside a lift of his housing block on Jan 16 while on his way to a karate lesson before being rushed to Kajang Hospital and was pronounced dead.