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KUALA LUMPUR: One of the eight Chinese health experts who are here to share their experiences in tackling Covid-19 recommends that Malaysia extend its testing of the disease using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to those aged above 50 as the country begins to relax the movement control order (MCO).
Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital associate chief physician of intensive care unit Dr Wen Miaoyun said after the lockdown in Wuhan was lifted, China stepped up its
PCR testing by targeting those aged above 50, those with respiratory symptoms and those with a history of close contact.
Dr Wen said China did that because 13% of its Covid-19 patients were asymptomatic.
“If we miss those asymptomatic patients in the PCR testing, they can be a possible cause of (Covid-19) transmissions in future,” he said in an interview here yesterday.
The Chinese doctor and his seven compatriots were in Malaysia for an exchange of knowledge with the Health Ministry.
The medical experts, who also went to Sabah and Sarawak, had arrived on April 18 and will return to China today.
Dr Wen was asked how China managed to continue containing the disease after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan and what Malaysia could learn from his country.
On Jan 23, the Chinese central government imposed a lockdown on Wuhan – the first epicenter of the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus – and other cities in the Hubei province in an effort to contain the outbreak.
The lockdown was lifted in different areas at different times; in Wuhan, the lockdown lasted 76 days, ending on April 8.
On Friday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced an easing of the movement control order, which was first imposed on March 18, with the reopening of almost all economic sectors tomorrow but with conditions including strict social distancing.
Dr Wen said if it was possible, the PCR should be extended to workers and students before the economic and school activities resume.
“Those in the community with fever as well as those returning to Malaysia from abroad should also take the test,” he said.
I added that PCR was recommended because the results were more accurate than the antigen rapid test.
“The overall objective after the lifting of a lockdown is to prevent the rebound of the pandemic locally and to prevent the incoming cases from abroad,” he reiterated.
Besides stepping up testing, Dr Wen also said it was important to safeguard the health of frontliners in transportation hubs, hospitals (especially fever clinics) and the community.
He said the lifting of the MCO and restoration of social and economic activities should be done according to risk levels.
“In China, nearly every city in China was categorized into risk levels of high, moderate or low,” he said.
Asked about the concern over a second wave of Covid-19 once the MCO was relaxed, Prof Dr Li Jun, the Chinese experts’ team leader and Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine vice-president, said it was hard to predict but the above measures should be implemented for safeguards.
On the issue of reinfection among recovered Covid-19 patients, Sun Yat Sen University post-doctoral researcher Dr Sun Jiufeng said out of the more than 600 recovered patients in Guangdong, over 10% of those who tested positive had low infectivity.
I’ve noted that it should not be called a “reinfection”.
Nevertheless, all discharged Covid-19 patients in Guangdong were required to be quarantined for another 14 days, he said.
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