KUALA LUMPUR: Some 8,940 healthcare workers (HCW) in Malaysia have contracted Covid-19 so far this year, says Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

       In a Facebook post Thursday (Feb 17), the Health director-general said the number has been increasing from 284 cases in the first week of the year (Week 1/2022) to 3,343 cases in the sixth week (Week 6/2022).

       Dr Noor Hisham said as of Feb 16, some 5,711 HCW (active cases) were absent from work after they tested positive for Covid-19 while 3,119 missed work after being identified as close contacts, which constituted to about 3.1% of Health Ministry total workforce.

       Meanwhile, 3,229 HCW who were Covid-19 positive have completed their isolation period and were now back at work.

       Dr Noor Hisham also said that at the moment, 80.3% of HCW in Malaysia have received their booster shot.

       "In general, currently 93.3% of the overall Covid-19 patients are under home isolation with follow-ups being carried out digitally," he said.

       Dr Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry has taken measures to ensure minimal disruption to service and care for both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients.

       He said necessary steps and adaptive policy were introduced based on current available data and practices in other countries adding that the ministry was also working with private healthcare facilities to assist in the management of Covid-19 patients.

       Meanwhile, in another post, he said a total of 2,258,521 individuals or 67.7% of the country's 3,335,309 elderly population have been given the booster dose as of Feb 7.

       According to him, visits were made to 1,073 registered and unregistered homes for the elderly where 19,646 residents and 10,173 workers were given the first and second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. - Bernama