Woman from the recent Makoi cluster that passed away and her family were assessed two weeks ago but did not meet the swabbing criteria – Dr Fong

The Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says the woman from the recent Makoi cluster that passed away and her family were assessed by the screening team two weeks ago but did not meet the swabbing criteria.

Doctor Fong highlighted this when questioned on how come the screening team missed this woman as she was in a stage where she was infectious when she presented herself at Makoi Health Centre.

He says the screening team went to the household, but no symptoms were reported at that time.

Doctor Fong says when this woman was presented at the Health Centre, the staff knew straight away that the symptoms were dangerous and all the staff that came into contact with the patient were in full personal protective equipment and the area was cleared.

He says he feels nervous in trying to give more information about this case as he does not want to throw any negative permutations around the family.