Half of all Covid-19 patients have recovered, Wuhan evacuees released

CORONAVIRUS | Half of all Covid-19 patients in Malaysia have fully recovered to date, said Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad.

The latest recoveries are a nine-year-old Malaysian boy and his 45-year-old Malaysian father.

The duo was two out of 107 people who were evacuated from Wuhan, China on Feb 4 on a special flight arranged by the Malaysian government amid the Covid-19 outbreak there.

"Both these cases received in-patient treatment in isolation wards. They underwent repeated Covid-19 tests and were found to be negative on two consecutive repeated tests," Dzulkefly (above) said.

They were discharged from the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital, Seremban.

As of today, the total Covid-19 cases remain unchanged, at 22.

In a related development, the Health Ministry announced that all remaining Malaysian passengers and their family members who were evacuated from Wuhan are now allowed to return home as they have completed their observation period.

However, one of the patients is currently admitted into a hospital for a separate health-related issue.

They were quarantined on arrival on Feb 4, which was 14 days ago. The Covid-19 has a reported incubation of between two to 14 days.

Dzukefly said all repeated tests have returned negative results.

"The Health Ministry wishes to express appreciation and congratulates all agencies involved in making the humanitarian and disaster relief mission a success," he said.

The remaining 11 of 22 cases are still undergoing treatment in hospitals.

Of the 22 cases, 12 were patient-under-investigation, eight from amongst close contact and two were Malaysians evacuated from Wuhan.

They comprise 15 Chinese nationals, six Malaysians and one US citizen.

There are two other Malaysians infected with the Covid-19 abroad and are undergoing treatment in Japan.

They had been on the Diamond Princess cruise ship where at least 454 infections have been reported from among its more than 3,700 passengers.

To date, 73,433 people in 29 countries and territories have been infected with Covid-19, which first broke out in Wuhan.

A total of 1,873 people have died from the virus while 12,677 people have recovered.

At an estimated fatality rate of two percent, Covid-19 is less deadly than the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) which infected 8,098 people and killed 774 in 17 countries between 2002 and 2003, representing a fatality rate of around 9.6 percent.

However, Covid-19 is more infectious than Sars and this has contributed to more total deaths.