PUTRAJAYA, Aug 19 (NNN-Bernama) — Continuing research into COVID-19 will help the authority to keep understanding the disease to improve clinical care and public health measures in curbing the pandemic and returning to the norm, said Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.
“In working to return to the norm of our lives, research plays an important role,” he said at the 14th National Conference for Clinical Research (NCCR) 2021 themed “Niche to Norm” held virtually today.
During this time last year, he said only around 9,200 people were recorded to have been infected with COVID-19 in Malaysia, but the number had now increased more than 100 fold to surpass the one-million mark.
“The battle with COVID-19 carries on, and I cannot stress enough how we must keep vigilant,” said Dr Noor Hisham.
To assist the Health Ministry’s efforts in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, the Institute for Clinical Research, together with local and international collaborators, had developed a digital health solution to remotely monitor the safety of the COVID-19 home quarantined patients, he said.
He said the COVID-19 Digital Quarantine and Home Monitoring Solution (CODIQ-MY) uses the Internet of Medical Things and Artificial Intelligence to provide doctors with real-time information on the health status of home-quarantined patients, enabling the doctors to provide a fast and targeted treatment plan.
He also pointed out that the use of digital health was also crucial in the fight against COVID-19, such as the use of MySejahtera application for remote health assessment, contact tracing, and facilitating the vaccination process.
— NNN-BERNAMA