KOTA KINABALU: Taking Covid-19 lightly, not vaccinating against the virus as well as not responding quickly upon detection of having contracted Covid-19 are among the main reasons for the high number of Covid-19 related deaths in Sabah.
Sabah Health Department director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin said reasons like patients having comorbidities prior to contracting Covid-19 was also another factor.
She said based on their analysis of the total 93 deaths relating to Covid-19 between Feb 8 and Feb 23 this year, 48% are those who had yet to get vaccinated against the virus.
She said 84% of these total deaths are those with a history of illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and kidney failure.
“As for the 46 brought-in-dead (BID) cases, most of them were those who have yet to receive their booster shots,” she said.
Dr Rose said the high percentage of BID cases was due to families of these patients or the patients themselves taking their Covid-19 symptoms too lightly.
“They feel that their symptoms were mild and there was no need to seek immediate medical attention,” she said.
She said in many of these cases, the patients themselves chose to wait-and-see and not take immediate steps to visit the doctor within 24 hours of them falling sick.
Some of the main symptoms of these cases are having loss of appetite and fatigue, Dr Rose said.
She urged Covid-19 patients to immediately seek medical attention for further instructions and proper medical care when they are tested positive instead of waiting.
She also urged those who have yet to get vaccinated and booster shots to do so as soon as possible to fight the virus.
She also encouraged parents to bring their children, especially those between the ages of five and 11 to get inoculated.
Previously, it was reported that according to the Health Ministry's CovidNow website, Sabah recorded the highest Covid-19 related deaths in the country over the past two weeks.
Statistics from the daily Covid-19 updates also show that Sabah’s vaccination rate remains among the lowest in the country at just over 62% of at least one dose administered as of Feb 25.
As for children between the ages of five and 11, only some 10% in Sabah have received at least their first dose of the vaccine.
Some parents have expressed concerns about getting their children vaccinated as they were unsure of how their children’s bodies would respond to the vaccine.
However, there were also those who were confident enough to let their young children get inoculated.
Olivia Miwil, 35, a former nurse, said that her nine-year-old daughter, Bree Tan, received her first jab at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital here over a week ago.
“Instead of being lethargic, feverish, having pain on the injection site, she seemed to be more active and talkative,” she said.
She said hiding from Covid-19 is neither a permanent solution nor good for the children's development, especially in education and social skills.
“It is understandable that parents are concerned about the possible side effects of the new vaccines, which are being told by laymen or anti-vaxxers or those reported in the social media,” Miwil said.
“However, since the implementation of the PICKids on Feb 3 in the country, there are not many reports on adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) among kids,” she added.
Teacher Jacq Teo, 35, said her three daughters aged six, eight and 10 received their first dose of the vaccine on Feb 13.
“All the girls are doing fine. They were active after their jabs and did not show any negative symptoms thus far,” she said.
She urged the public to not be influenced by the numerous unverified social media and Internet messages promoting misleading information about vaccination.