Dr Dzulkefly: No plans to increase quarantine period from 14 days for novel coronavirus cases

PUTRAJAYA: There are no plans to extend the quarantine period beyond 14 days for cases linked to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said.

He was replying to a question during a media conference today, on a reported study in China – from data gathered from 1,000 patients – which found that the incubation period for the virus was as long as 24 days.

Dr Dzulkefly said that any new decision, including on the quarantine period, would be made based on advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

He said if changes according to the study were to be adopted, it would result in “various implications” as of now.

“All of the current findings and measures are implemented tentatively until we receive any confirmation from our experts and the WHO.

“We must allow all kinds of researches to be presented, published and so on but we must take a stand and have our own opinion,” he told journalists after a teleconference session with Singapore Health Minister Gan Kim Yong.

Dr Dzulkefly also said Malaysia and Singapore were not facing a shortage of anti-viral drugs.

Sungai Buloh Hospital Diseases consultant Dr Suresh Kumar, who also present, said patients who have recovered from the infection would be continuously monitored, although foreigners, or more specifically tourists, were allowed to return to their home country.

Dr Suresh also said there has yet to be cases of relapse among recovered patients in China.

Source: NST