Brace for more ‘brought in dead’ cases from home quarantine, says doctor

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: The government’s decision to allow mild and asymptomatic patients in the Klang Valley to undergo home quarantine may increase the brought-in-dead (BID) rate, says a volunteer doctor at a Covid-19 Assessment Centre (CAC) in the capital.

Based on the health ministry’s reports, a total of 264 BID cases were recorded across the country from July 15-28. Selangor recorded the highest number, with 122 cases, during this period.

The doctor, who was speaking to FMT on condition of anonymity, said that with the Delta variant now spreading across the country, many patients were suffering from “happy hypoxia”, where they did not show any symptom of breathing difficulty despite low oxygen levels in their body.

“We find that with this new variant, the number of deaths at home due to Covid-19 is increasing.

“Although the patients look all right, many were found to have died in their sleep. This ‘happy hypoxia’ can be considered a silent killer,” said the doctor.

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