SIBU: Users of self-test kits who found themselves Covid-19 positive will be tested again or given new appointments for their rT-PCR screening tests to confirm the results.
Sibu Divisional Health Officer Dr Teh Jo Hun when contacted on Saturday (Sept 4) said that his team greatly appreciated the efforts of those who were willing to perform the tests on their own at home.
According to him, besides wearing bracelets or quarantine tags these “positive cases” will monitor themselves at home while waiting for the results of their tests.
“We can’t put them in quarantine and low-risk treatment centres (PKRCs) or Covid-19 assessment centres (CACs) which are often crowded with positive individuals.
“It is therefore safer for positive self-testers to be at home while waiting for the results of their tests,” he said when asked to comment on the effectiveness of the self-test kits.
Recently, the test kits have been on the market in the state and are sold at RM19.90 each.
Regarding permission to undergo home quarantine in Sibu, he stressed that the criteria were very strict and carefully evaluated by medical officers from CAC.
Dr Teh explained the five criteria to allow a Covid-19 patient to be quarantined at home is first they are 60 years old and below.
“Second, the patient does not have any high-risk disease or one of the high-risk but stable diseases.
“Next, suitable homes especially for patients from longhouses will be considered for placement in the CAC,” he said.
The fourth criterion is patients should have a caretaker at home and, lastly, non-patients with lower immunity such as patients undergoing chemotherapy or organ transplants.
Dr Teh said that those who tested positive would be monitored by a medical officer on a regular basis and some medications could be obtained at the CAC if symptomatic treatment was required.
The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) reported that Sibu district recorded a total of 323 positive Covid-19 cases, today. However, all patients are Category 1 and 2 cases.
There were 175 Category 1 patients and 148 Category 2 patients.
