‘Frontliners are doing the best they can’

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has appealed for patience from the public as it grapples with the massive numbers of people waiting to be quarantined and treated for Covid-19 at centres nationwide.

The Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (MAEPS) Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) in Serdang, the largest such centre in the country, has come under criticism over registration delays, poor treatment and inadequate facilities offered to those sent there for quarantine.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba asked the public to be patient as the frontliners are doing the best they can.

The healthcare system, he said, is “overwhelmed and stretched”.

He cited the example of Shah Alam’s Stadium Malawati, which is being used as a Covid-19 assessment centre (CAC).

The CAC, he said, handled 1,700 cases daily on Friday and Saturday.

“Our medical frontliners are on duty even during the festive season. We have over 100 frontliners at the centre.

“More and more cases are being reported daily and frontliners are overwhelmed. Everyone happens to know a Covid-19 positive patient now. That is how dire the situation is.

“Exercise extra caution and observe all the standard operating procedures. Together, we can help bring down the number of cases,” he told the New Straits Times.

Stadium Malawati has been operating as a CAC for the Petaling district since Feb 8, with a capacity to assess between 1,000 and 1,200 patients daily.

Apart from the stadium, there are CACs operating in eight districts, namely in Klang, Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam, Gombak, Hulu Selangor, Hulu Langat, Sepang and Kuala Langat.

Health authorities on Saturday had to issue a denial over online claims that the stadium was being used to house Covid-19 patients.

Bernama quoted Petaling district Health office public health physician Dr Faridah Amin as saying that there was a misunderstanding by the person who made the claim and uploaded a video of people queuing outside the stadium.

“Covid-19 positive patients will be assessed, and depending on the individual’s condition, followed either by home quarantine, admission to the PKRC at MAEPS in Serdang, or hospital admission,” she was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the state government would set up tents for the convenience of patients and staff outside the CAC.

“I have received complaints about CAC Stadium Melawati. The management of the CAC is under the supervision of the Health Ministry and Selangor Health department (JKNS).

“However, the state government will always help in terms of volunteers and facilities to ease their burden. I have also called a meeting with JKNS.

“I understand that JKNS has a shortage of medical staff because it manages MAEPS and CAC, which also receives patients from other states apart from being involved in immunisation programmes,” he wrote on Twitter.

MAEPS in Serdang, however, came under scrutiny by the public, who went online to highlight its abysmal conditions, which include a dire lack of facilities and overcrowding.

Twitter user Syed Mohamed Arif described his journey to the PKRC and stay at the centre as a “horrible experience”, citing crowded facilities that defeated the purpose of quarantining as patients were exposed to potential infections from other patients and unhygienic conditions.

In a now-viral Twitter thread, Syed Mohamed said he spent almost nine hours at the Stadium Malawati CAC from 8.30am till 5.30pm before the authorities decided he had to be admitted to the PKRC.

“Upon arrival in a cramped bus with no physical distancing, we were clueless about where we would be sent (to which MAEPS hall).

“Before this, we were informed by the Petaling district Health office to bring clothes for three days, a sweater and many more. Little that I know we would be sent to a place that was nowhere near what I imagined.

“The place is a converted parking spot and double-decker beds were placed (here). I was mentally triggered when I saw this. Knowing also that the doctor who advised me to come here said we will be taken care of,” he wrote.

He said the wait to register at the centre took another two hours and patients queued along with foreigners to receive their tags, all the while having nothing to eat since 8.30am.

Syed Mohamed shared that most of the Malaysians sent to MAEPS were asymptomatic Covid-19 patients, but he began to develop symptoms, such as coughing, after going through the process at the CAC and admission to MAEPS.

“I too started to cough. Again, the doctor who advised me to come here said we would be looked after. I have not seen a single nurse checking up on us ever since I arrived.

“Upon arrival at my bed, I was placed at bed number C-24; but, there was someone there. Then I was asked to just find an empty bed. So I did.

“There was no bed sheet, blanket nor a pillow anywhere in sight. So I asked for one, (apparently many also didn’t get them) and was informed that the items are on their way.

“They (doctor/nurse) said it would arrive tonight. It’s 2.21am and I haven’t slept yet. Waiting. How am I going to sleep then?”

Attaching several pictures, Syed Mohamed showed his bed where he was forced to use his bag as a pillow, a sweater as the cover and a prayer mat as bed cover.

He further said there were no shower facilities at the venue, but only a bidet in the toilet.

These, he said, were basic necessities that should have been provided.

“Someone could develop mental health problems here. Not only because of the toilet but of the environment.

“No supervision, no proper ventilation. The government should really think about providing these necessities.

“There shouldn’t be the reason of no funds. I am definitely stressed here, mentally, physically; it’s almost torturing me deep inside.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about how demanding I am. It’s about the basic things that people need to get if they’re sick and need to be treated,” he wrote in calling for better management.

Another Twitter user shared that her parents, both aged above 60, were admitted to MAEPS last week and had to endure a long wait from 4.30pm to 1am before they were allocated beds.

A former patient who was admitted at another MAEPS hall said while they had basic facilities, including showers, bed sheets and air-conditioning, patients did face poor treatment from the frontliners.

Commenting on the poor facilities at MAEPS, a netizen wrote: “It’s true and I’ve been quarantined in such conditions at MAEPS Serdang back when I had Covid-19 in February.”

Other Malaysians, meanwhile, have expressed concern over having to quarantine at the centre, especially if their parents tested Covid-19 positive and called on the Health Ministry to act on it.

“Both my parents have tested positive and I’m now worried about what they have to endure at MAEPS,” a Twitter user wrote.

“I’m just worried that due to the crowded nature of the place, the recovery process will become slower. If there are no symptoms, I prefer to self-quarantine (if it is available and allowed),” another wrote.

Source: NST