Malaysia continues to break daily COVID-19 infection records. The Health Ministry today reported 9,020 new Covid-19 cases, setting the highest record ever.
“To all our frontliners although we have many sleepless nights and many experienced chronic fatigue, let us all wipe our tears, chin up again, eyes forward and prepare for the huge battle against Covid-19 again, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah posted on Facebook.
Due to the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the state of Kedah, surgeries and elective procedures have long been delayed. This has been able to reduce the use of beds for surgical cases as well as allow more wards to be repurposed to be used as wards to treat COVID-19 patients, he said in another post.
General Surgeon and Orthopedic Surgeon, Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital (HSB) is treating patients at the HSB Emergency and Trauma Department. Although these doctors are surgeons, they have been placed temporarily by the hospital and the Kedah State Health Department to assist in the treatment of COVID-19 patients and non-COVID patients at the hospital even though the case does not involve surgical-related problems.
“If this situation continues, then more experts from other disciplines will have to be mobilized to accommodate the increase in COVID-19 cases,” he added.
The only solution for now to reduce the number of infections in Kedah and other states in Malaysia is to ” continue to adhere to the SOP, “self lock down” at home ”
The rapid rise in cases has forced the government impose a “total lockdown” that will take effect on Tuesday.
Heartbreaking images of exhausted medical frontliners weighed down in personal protective equipment (PPE) and drenched in sweat, squatting out of sheer tiredness, and lying down unable to even take off their masks, were shared by Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah on Facebook.
Right now the healthcare system is under tremendous pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Noor is pleading with the public to help the frontliners to fight the pandemic.
Covid crisis seems to have just begun in Malaysia.
Medical frontliners have been fighting day and night the disease since the pabdemic started in early February 2020. They are now getting tired and exhausted.
The worry is, Hospitals are running out of beds and medical equipement.
More volunteers, scientists, experts, doctors, nurses are needed to assist in this battle.
Many non-Covid-19 patients are now facing difficulties in getting the necessary critical care.
“Hospitals have had to repurpose other areas like normal wards into temporary ICUs by equipping their beds with the necessary medical equipment, ” Dr Noor said.
