the emergency entrance and taken to a special area. If
it is decided the patient needs to be admitted for high
risk of infection, he is brought through a dedicated
route from the emergency department to a dedicated
lift to the ward,” said infectious diseases consultant Dr
Benedict Sim at a briefing in February.
“Within the isolation ward, there are double-layered
walls. There’s an inner room and a corridor outside
the room with intercom facilities to talk to the patient
so we don’t have to enter unless necessary,” he
explained.
More dedicated wards for COVID-19 patients are
now being set up at Sungai Buloh, including at its
former leprosy centre, which was reopened after a
major clean-up.
But while the country’s hospitals and medical
experts are playing key roles in containing the virus,
the current outbreak and the country’s response to it
have also reminded Dr Ahmad Munawwar of a similar
crisis in 2014, soon after he became a doctor. Then,
as now, there was a similar atmosphere of “everyone
being in it together.”
At the time, northern and eastern parts of Malaysia
saw the worst flooding in history, with 200,000 people
affected and a death toll of 21. Though the coronavirus
pandemic could dwarf these numbers, what happened
in 2014 has given doctors like Ahmad Munawwar a
unique perspective on how to deal with high-volume
admissions.
When the floods raged in 2014, he launched a
charity to help colleagues, called the Islamic Medical
GlobalHealthAndTravel.com
Association of Malaysia’s Response and Relief Team
or Imaret, that continues to operate today.
“Most of us are from the medical fraternity —
doctors, nurses, medical assistants, even medical
students. Since 2014, we’ve been doing outreach
and relief work during disasters. Our focus is on our
medical skills, and for this outbreak, we’ve had a few
initiatives,” he explained.
“For example, we’re providing our volunteer
doctors to assist the Ministry of Health in controlling
this outbreak. They’ll be deployed at a few areas, at
health community clinics, and district health offices.
The group has also been providing a moral boost to
healthcare workers by delivering food and snacks
to hospitals and COVID-19 response co-ordination
centres. We get donations to buy food for healthcare
workers and supply it to several hospitals in the Klang
Valley.
“At this time of crisis, people are worrying,
panicking, and blaming each other. We want to show
Malaysia that now is not the time to do this. We want
to show some humanity, that’s why we started this.
We focus on community clinics that are the unsung
heroes of the health system,” he said.
With distribution underway, Imaret is now
broadening its service to include non-medical items,
such as tents, fans, and portable air-conditioning
units. The tents are for the increasing number of
makeshift screening centres that are usually outside a
hospital’s emergency department.
In less than a week, Imaret received close to one
More dedicated
wards for
COVID-19
patients are now
being set up at
Sungai Buloh,
including at its
former leprosy
centre, which
was reopened
after a major
clean-up.
MAY 2020
35