Covid-19 has caused quite a stir in Malaysia and because of the seriousness of the situation, the government has introduced a Movement Control Order. Due to the implementation of this order, many people are working from home. However, there are still some people out there who fall under the “essential services” category and are required to be physically present at work.
According to Malay Mail, a doctor in Kelantan named Amirul has shared an infuriating tale of someone who wanted to get out of work by lying that they were in contact with a patient who is Covid-19 positive.
The story starts off like this, a young man went to the clinic on 17th March with a cough. At the triage counter, he told the personnel there that he didn’t travel anywhere, doesn’t know anyone who has Covid-19 and did not attend the religious event at the Sri Petaling mosque.
After that, everything was fine and it was finally his turn to meet the doctor. So the doctor gave him a thorough check and said that since the young man doesn’t know anyone with Covid-19 then it should be fine. The man then said,
“Oh, wait. My friend is positive for Covid-19 though.”
Of course, the whole room was in shock (there was even a pregnant doctor in the clinic!) and they quickly ushered him into the isolation room where Dr. Amirul was on duty. Dr. Amirul then wore his PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and went to the isolation room. However, when he arrived there, there was no patient and he informed all of the available staff to search for the young man.
After half an hour of searching, Dr. Amirul took off his PPE and informed a Senior Medical Officer that a Covid-19 contact patient had ran away. They called the village chief to help search for the young man as well. And finally, five minutes before the clinic’s closing time, the man came back with his father in tow.
Feeling defeated, Dr. Amirul had to go and wear a fresh new set of PPE and it takes him a minimum time of 15 minutes to wear it.
When Dr. Amirul went into the isolation room, he asked the man where he went and he said that he went to school to pick up his younger sibling. Dr. Amirul knew it was a blatant lie because it is now the school holidays. He then started to ask the patient questions regarding his Covid-19 positive friend like where were they admitted, were they close and whatnot. Then the “patient” answered,
“I actually do not have any Covid-19 positive friend. I just wanted to take MC as my leave is until tomorrow, so you can put my MC starting on the day after tomorrow. It’s so tiring to go back and forth to KL to work.”
Dr. Amirul really wanted to give the man a piece of his mind since he caused such panic at the clinic but he kept his professionalism and never gave him an MC.
That man in question definitely deserves some stern action taken towards him as he caused unnecessary panic and wastage of precious medical supplies!
Other than that, we Malaysians should take the Movement Control Order seriously and practice social distancing religiously! If you are unclear about the order then you can call the hotline @ 03-88882010.
Also read: M’sian Covid-19 Frontliner Shares The Reality of Being A Working Mother Amid Covid-19 Outbreak
