Six Covid-19 cases in a house, and no word from MoH
PETALING JAYA: Ms Yong, 49, tested positive for Covid-19 on Jan 6 when she went for a private drive-through screening. Since her diagnosis, all the other five members of her household have tested positive too, including her mother and father-in-law, both 77.
But they have been left waiting for a call from the health ministry, to tell them what to do next. It has been a painful wait but the phone has yet to ring.
The Yong family are among the many Malaysians caught in a quandary: they are ill but have not been taken to hospital for quarantine and medical care.
Last month, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah spoke about the problems faced by the public health system in trying to transport patients to hospitals, particularly in the Klang Valley. Responding to complaints of long waiting times for ambulances, he urged those who tested positive but were asymptomatic to self-isolate at home while awaiting further instruction from the ministry.
“I understand the health ministry is overwhelmed with all the cases, but they need to do something about this,” Yong told FMT from her home in Section 12. “They have to update their own procedures, because things like this are unfair.”
Her case was highlighted by Selangor state assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran, who said a constituent in Bukit Gasing, had contacted his office on Jan 8. “We were informed an officer will contact the family shortly. Unfortunately, nothing happened by Saturday,” he said.
Yong said that aside from her younger daughter, who had been asymptomatic, everyone in the house has shown symptoms. She and her daughters are all having coughing fits, back and body aches and fevers. The elderly members of the household have fared the worst, both experiencing diarrhoea, dehydration, and elevated blood pressure.
“My father-in-law was in really bad shape. After a while, he couldn’t focus and when you talked to him, he’d look through you, blank. When you asked him a question, he wouldn’t answer.”
On Sunday, she finally managed to have both the older patients admitted to Sungai Buloh hospital.
“The private hospitals wouldn’t take them, and the government ones said they were full. Eventually I asked them who I could sue if something were to happen to them, and only then did they say that they had two beds available for the older folks.”
With uncertainty over when the hospital would send an ambulance, and concerned with the worsening condition of the elderly folk, she arranged for two private ambulances to take them to Sungai Buloh hospital.
Rajiv called for serious action and for the government “to stop playing games”. He said that if beds and quarantine centres were full, “the bare minimum that needs to be done is to contact Covid positive patients and tell them what to do”.
Yong said while her in-laws are recovering and the rest of the family is isolating at home, she is left wondering why their positive tests did not warrant a call from the health ministry.
“I did a drive-through test, and the lab assistants told me that they pass their list of confirmed cases to the health ministry every day. I don’t know who to believe, because until now I haven’t heard or received calls from anyone.”
She said it was about time private hospitals were used to treat Covid-19 patients, and hoped the ministry could continue to develop it’s SOPs to deal with new challenges.
FMT has sought comment from the health ministry. - FMT
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