With the daily COVID cases hitting 9,000 for the past two days, massive cracks in the healthcare system are starting to show, putting it in danger of collapsing entirely.
A pregnant frontliner retweeted a video showing the disastrous state of the Tengku Ampuan Rahiman Hospital in Klang, which has seen a mass stream of COVID patients flocking to its doors in recent weeks. Some patients were even placed at the parking lot to receive treatment due to a lack of beds.
In the caption, she pleaded with Malaysians to follow the SOPs and help minimize the frontliners’ burden.
All the frontliners have been on-call in full personal protective equipment (PPE) from 12 am till 4 am. Our hands are wrinkled, and our clothes are dirty. As for me, I’m pregnant and have just completed my vaccination.
“Can you help frontliners like me? Please stay at home. I’m risking my baby to treat people I don’t even know!”
Her tweet has since garnered 22.9k retweets, with many feeling sorry for her condition.
One netizen asked the frontliner why she wasn’t exempted from performing her duties due to her pregnancy. Unfortunately, the frontliner answered by saying that her boss didn’t see the need to do so.
“My boss said, ‘There’s no contraindication for pregnant staff to work in the COVID/severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) ward’”
Several netizens also took the opportunity to thank the unsung heroes battling the deadly virus during this difficult time.
Cover images via Twitter and Science
Sources: Twitter/ @fara_fiqa92
Proofreader: Sarah Yeoh