Management of healthcare worker in Hospital Umum Sarawak during Covid-19 Pandemic

This is the main page for healthcare worker protocols related to Covid-19. Use the following sections to navigate

Help! My RTK is Positive

1. Update your MySejahtera in order to get the digital HSO. Make sure to update your status everyday until the end of quarantine period.
2. Fill in this link > POSITIVE HCW INFO SHEET
3. Inform your supervisor / HOD / SHLO
4. If you have close contacts who are family members or stay within the same household, kindly add them as close contacts in your MySejahtera and have them perform STK as well and update their MySejahtera accordingly.
5. If you feel unwell at any time during your quarantine period, please go to the Emergency & Trauma Department, inform that you are under quarantine for being Covid-19 positive but you are feeling very unwell and require further examination.

Close Contact Definition (Annex 1)

• Face-to-face contact with a confirmed case within 1 meter and for at least 15 minutes;
• Living in the same household as a COVID-19 patient;
• Working together in close proximity or sharing the same classroom environment with a COVID-19 patient;
• Travelling together with COVID-19 patient in any kind of conveyance;
• Health care associated exposure without appropriate PPE (including providing direct care for COVID-19 patients, working with health care workers infected with COVID-19, visiting patients or staying in the same close environment of a COVID-19 patient).

Close Contact Definition for Healthcare Workers (Annex 21)

A. HCW who are exposed to positive patients:

• have any unprotected exposure of their eyes or mouth or mucus membranes, to the bodily fluids (mainly respiratory secretions e.g. coughing, but also includes blood, stools, vomit, and urine) of the case, OR
• have a cumulative unprotected exposure during one work shift (i.e. any breach PPE) for more than 15 minutes face-to-face (< 1 meter distance) to a case OR
• have any unprotected exposure (i.e. any breach in the appropriate PPE) while present in the same room when an AGP is undertaken on the case

*AGP = aerosol-generating procedure, including: CPR, intubation, nebulisation, endoscopy procedures (bronchoscope, OGDS etc)

B. Laboratory HCW who have not fully adhered to good laboratory practice for cumulative 15 minutes or more in one work shift, while testing samples of positive patient

C. Exposure without appropriate PPE including:

• providing direct care for COVID-19 patients
• working with health care workers infected with COVID-19
• visiting patients or staying in the same close environment of a COVID-19 patient
• travelling together with COVID-19 patient in any kind of conveyance

D. Household contact:

Living in the same household as a COVID-19 patient. (Living and sleeping in the same home, individual in shared accommodation sharing kitchen or bathroom facilities and sexual partners)

Are you a close contact? Please read section above before proceeding below

Close Contact INSIDE Hospital

Please liaise with your unit / department’s SHLO to call the OSH MO Oncall via hospital operator to report close contact within the hospital.

Close contact INSIDE Hospital includes patients, caretakers, visitors etc.

Close Contact OUTSIDE Hospital / Symptomatic WITHOUT known contact (TinyURL / Bitly Link)

Please use the following link for declaration of:

• Close contact with Covid-19 positive indexes outside of Hospital Umum Sarawak, OR
• Symptomatic without any known contact

Perform an RTK and declare (links point to the same form, fill in once only – updated 8/2/2022)

• bit.ly/sghhcwstk, OR
• tinyurl.com/hcwselftestkitpos, OR
• Alternative Link

Annex 21A Latest Guideline in Risk Management and Return to Work

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact INSIDE SGH

Help! What To Do If I’m Exposed to a Covid-19 Positive Patient Inside the Hospital?

When you find out you are exposed to a confirmed positive patient, please do not panic. Until you are contacted by the OSH team, kindly continue to work with precaution – which means face mask and face shield at all times. Do not eat with others, practice social distancing and keep social interaction at a minimum.

What is the whole process after exposure to a Covid-19 positive patient in the hospital?

In terms of manpower and management to ensure continuity of service, this is the general flow:

1. A Google form specific to the index case will be created and forwarded to the respective department’s ward manager / SHLO / HOD.

2. Close contacts to fill up the forwarded Google form link

3. A PDF containing the list of close contacts will be sent to respective unit’s SHLO for monitoring depending on risk assessment

These steps are subject to the actual situation and might change.

What is the whole process after exposure to a Covid-19 positive staff?

If you have close contact with a workplace colleague, please refer to the diagram in determining your risk level and the general workflow. As a rule, you only need to quarantine if you are high-risk and symptomatic. Otherwise, you should continue to work as usual with strict self-monitoring of symptoms for 14 days.

Do I need to quarantine myself if I know I have been exposed to a Covid-19 patient inside SGH?

If you have adhered to strict infection control protocols and wore a face mask and face shield during your exposure, please kindly continue working with a face shield and face mask at all times unless you have been told to self-quarantine by the OSH unit / your SHLO.

What to do if I’m coded low risk under an index but I’m feeling unwell?

If you are symptomatic, please perform an STK and contact the staff clinic for further assessment.

Contact OUTSIDE SGH

What to do if I or my household is in contact with a Covid-19 positive person OUTSIDE of hospital

Please purchase a self-test kit, perform the test then declare in the Google link for Close Contact OUTSIDE Hospital (TinyURL / Bitly) as above and wait for the call from Healthcare Worker Investigation Team (HIT) for further instructions.

Who will issue the Quarantine Order for contact outside the hospital?

For all SGH staff, we follow KKM’s standard 3-day HSO for high-risk close contacts following the latest announcement on 15/2/2022. All other risk codes should return to work (depending on symptom & RTK status). For high-risk symptomatic close contacts, HSO will be issued from OSH Unit. If there is any discrepancy between the close contact’s MySejahtera Digital HSO dates and the HSO from OSH Unit, please follow OSH Unit’s dates for self-quarantine. The duration of HSO also depends on risk assessment and health of the close contact, which may change during the course of the infection.

No contact but feeling unwell / asymptomatic

What to do if I’m feeling unwell, but I have no known contact with any known positive cases?

Please purchase a self-test kit, perform the test then fill up the Bitly link for further assessment.