TMI:
Kuching woman returning from Italy brings death, despair
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A KUCHING woman’s return from Italy was not the joyful homecoming she had wished for.
Instead, she only brought anguish – and death – to her loved ones, listed by Sarawak health authorities and Disaster Management Committee (DMC) only as the “R.K. family”.
State Housing and Local Government Minister Dr Sim Kui Hian said the woman flew home from virus hotbed Italy with a female friend.
He did not say when the pair arrived.
Dr Sim, who is holding a watching brief on health matters for the state government, said the duo were tested for Covid-19 while under home quarantine, and their results came back positive.
However, they are asymptomatic.
According to Dr Sim and an infographic released by the state DMC, the two went on to infect 10 people, including the first woman’s 79-year-old mother, 40-year-old sister and 49-year-old brother – all of whom succumbed to the disease.
He said the “first generation” of infected people from the “Italy cluster” – seven of whom are women – comprised “close relatives”.
The woman’s mother was warded at a private hospital on March 16, five days after experiencing fever and cough, said Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and the state DMC when reporting her March 18 death.
She had breathing difficulties while in hospital, but the family refused to grant permission for a ventilator to be used, said Dr Noor Hisham.
The family discharged and took her home a day after she was warded.
Dr Sim said the hospital’s rapid blood tests on the senior citizen returned negative for the virus, but added that such testing is not foolproof.
“So, they (the family) thought she did not have Covid-19.”
A question that the hospital has yet to answer is why a sample taken for the more-conclusive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was sent to a laboratory in Kuala Lumpur, when Kuching has two Institute of Medical Research-certified labs at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
The PCR test result came back only after the woman died, and it showed that she had contracted the coronavirus. This forced the private hospital to temporarily shut for disinfection.
The 40-year-old woman, meanwhile, was warded at SGH the same day her mother died. She reportedly suffered a fever and cough since March 7.
The victim tested positive for Covid-19 on March 19, by which time she needed a ventilator. She died two days later.
On March 23, her brother died.
Dr Sim, highlighting the dangers of the disease, said the first person who got infected is still alive, but her mother and two siblings died.
“This shows that although she is fine, it does not mean her family members are fine,” he told reporters after receiving a shipment of 2,000 pieces of N95 masks donated by the Fujian provincial government in China and meant for medical frontliners.
Other members of the R.K. family are in isolation at a quarantine facility.
Apart from Italy, Sarawak has also detected cases brought in from Scotland and the Netherlands.
Malaysia yesterday recorded 235 new cases – the highest daily figure – bringing the nationwide total to 2,031, with 24 deaths. – March 27, 2020.
Instead, she only brought anguish – and death – to her loved ones, listed by Sarawak health authorities and Disaster Management Committee (DMC) only as the “R.K. family”.
State Housing and Local Government Minister Dr Sim Kui Hian said the woman flew home from virus hotbed Italy with a female friend.
He did not say when the pair arrived.
Dr Sim, who is holding a watching brief on health matters for the state government, said the duo were tested for Covid-19 while under home quarantine, and their results came back positive.
However, they are asymptomatic.
According to Dr Sim and an infographic released by the state DMC, the two went on to infect 10 people, including the first woman’s 79-year-old mother, 40-year-old sister and 49-year-old brother – all of whom succumbed to the disease.
He said the “first generation” of infected people from the “Italy cluster” – seven of whom are women – comprised “close relatives”.
The woman’s mother was warded at a private hospital on March 16, five days after experiencing fever and cough, said Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and the state DMC when reporting her March 18 death.
She had breathing difficulties while in hospital, but the family refused to grant permission for a ventilator to be used, said Dr Noor Hisham.
The family discharged and took her home a day after she was warded.
Dr Sim said the hospital’s rapid blood tests on the senior citizen returned negative for the virus, but added that such testing is not foolproof.
“So, they (the family) thought she did not have Covid-19.”
A question that the hospital has yet to answer is why a sample taken for the more-conclusive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was sent to a laboratory in Kuala Lumpur, when Kuching has two Institute of Medical Research-certified labs at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
The PCR test result came back only after the woman died, and it showed that she had contracted the coronavirus. This forced the private hospital to temporarily shut for disinfection.
The 40-year-old woman, meanwhile, was warded at SGH the same day her mother died. She reportedly suffered a fever and cough since March 7.
The victim tested positive for Covid-19 on March 19, by which time she needed a ventilator. She died two days later.
On March 23, her brother died.
Dr Sim, highlighting the dangers of the disease, said the first person who got infected is still alive, but her mother and two siblings died.
“This shows that although she is fine, it does not mean her family members are fine,” he told reporters after receiving a shipment of 2,000 pieces of N95 masks donated by the Fujian provincial government in China and meant for medical frontliners.
Other members of the R.K. family are in isolation at a quarantine facility.
Apart from Italy, Sarawak has also detected cases brought in from Scotland and the Netherlands.
Malaysia yesterday recorded 235 new cases – the highest daily figure – bringing the nationwide total to 2,031, with 24 deaths. – March 27, 2020.
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