With so many hospitals already understaffed and more patients flooding in daily, inconsiderate actions like these could really affect the lives of others during these troubling times.
A Sarawakian local Government and Housing Minister took to Facebook to call out citizens who were still blatantly lying to medical staff about their health conditions and placing the availability of our limited frontliners at risk!
“Extremely sad to receive this type of message from my medical colleagues who are in the frontline everyday serving you but due to a few irresponsible people, they are at risk of COVID 19 infection! If they are infected, who is going to look after you? #DontRiskLife” said the Minister in his post.
In the Facebook post, the minister shared screenshots of a Whatsapp conversation with one of the medical frontliners who encountered a super spreader that lied about testing negative for the virus. As a result, the medical officer said “tens of our colleagues need to go to KBS for throat swab”, and it is unknown if they are able to resume their duties until they’re confirmed to be cleared of the virus.
While these “tens” might not seem like a large number, it’s a significant loss in a time like this when Malaysian hospitals nationwide are currently facing a shortage in medical frontliners and staff to battle the ever-growing number of Covid-19 cases in our country.
Plus, these people put their life on the line to save the Rakyat! And yet, you have irresponsible people like this!
And unfortunately, it seems as though even those who have been quarantined aren’t listening to instructions. According to Sin Chew Daily, a separate screenshot revealed that people flying in from high-risk infection countries were directly disobeying quarantine orders to stay at home. As these citizens are specifically tagged with GPS trackers to monitor their movements, one such person went out in public and reportedly tried to “do marketing” even though they were given orders to not go out!
“Don’t lie to the doctors! The doctors and the nurses are here to help you. If they are no longer available, than no one can help you,” urged the minister. He added that while being infected is no one’s fault, we have to be honest and work together if we’re going to stop these cases from rising as rapidly as they are now:
“Come forward, tell the truth to the doctors and nurses,” advised Dr. Sim to infected individuals who have yet to seek treatment. “Together with the government, we will try to help you from infecting your family and your friends!”
Be considerate. We need to work together if we want to flatten the curve.
Also read: MOH Is Now Taking In Volunteers To Help Malaysian Medical Frontliners Battling Covid-19
