While many Malaysians are in a panic mode because of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), it is recommended for everyone to stay calm and refrain from magnifying the severity of the outbreak especially when it comes to the situation in Malaysia.
So far, a total of 37,569 cases are confirmed with the infection of novel coronavirus worldwide, and the death toll had been on the rise on a daily basis. In Malaysia, a 4-year-old Chinese girl had recovered from the virus and discharged from the Sultanah Maliha Hospital in Langkawi on 2 February. This was the first piece of good news for the viral outbreak situation in Malaysia.
Source: South China Morning Post | 4-year-old girl on the right.
Last night (8 February), another Chinese national was announced to have recovered from the novel coronavirus and has been discharged. The 40-year-old man from Wuhan was admitted to the isolation ward in Hospital Permai, Johor Bahru on 24 January because he had high fever and pneumonia.
Source: Adobe Stock
According to the director-general of Health Ministry, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the Chinese man was given an anti-viral medicine Kaletra for eight days.
“After eight days of treatment, the patient’s condition improved and he was fully cured. He was allowed to return home this afternoon (8 February).”
The patient’s condition had worsened on the second day and was required to be given oxygen. A chest x-ray was taken on the fourth day had shown an increased severity of the infection. The good news is that after eight days of treatment, the man had finally recovered and the coronavirus test came back negative.
Source: CNN (For illustration purposes only)
The drug that the medical team was using, Kaletra, is also known to control HIV infection, as reported on Oriental Daily. Although this is not a drug to “cure” the novel coronavirus, patients like this 40-year-old Chinese man have positive reactions toward the medicine that is meant for HIV patients.
So far, there are 16 confirmed cases in Malaysia, and it’s a relief that two of them had already recovered, all thanks to our diligent medical team.
The rising number of confirmed cases may seem terrifying, but the number of recoveries is also on the rise. So, stay calm because it’s more important to take care of our immune system.
