It is Day X (we honestly lost count) into the Conditional Movement Control Order (MCO), but the war on the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over.

The government is doing all they can to curb the spread of the deadly virus, from introducing new guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to stepping up enforcement around the country.

However, their latest rule is a bit of a head-scratcher.

Based on latest guidelines

On Tuesday (26 May), the Ministry of Health announced that positive COVID-19 patients, who have completed their 14-day treatment and quarantine at the hospital, are allowed to go back home - even if their second test comes back positive.

Malay Mail quoted Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah as saying that this new SOP was based on the World Health Organisation's latest guidelines.

He said prior to this, a patient who tested positive for the virus would have to remain in the hospital for more than two weeks because their polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on the 13th day of their stay came back positive.

However, WHO's latest guideline have indicated that the positive result could be due to residual fragments of the virus in the body that are no longer active.

“So a dead virus can still come up as positive. The only question is whether it can infect others, but WHO has stated the infectivity rate after 14 or more days of treatment is nearly zero," he was quoted as saying.

Therefore, these patients will be allowed to go home, even if their tests come up as positive again.

What do you guys think of this new guideline? Let us know in the comment section below.