KOTA KINABALU – Attempts to evade health workers and refusing to be admitted for Covid-19 are among the challenges faced by Sabah’s medical frontliners.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said health workers are having such problems especially in the coastal water villages.
“When we want to admit the asymptomatic Covid-19 patients, we have issues of trying to get them to hospital.
Dr Noor Hisham said this is considered an security issue as frontliners may be exposed to the virus when they enter the villages.
“So, we need to work with the police or army to make sure that the patients can be brought to hospital.
“Sometimes they try to run away when they see health workers coming to their area.”
He said the water villages are porous and inhabitants often attempt to escape from the frontliners when they see them.
He added awareness and education on Covid-19 in those areas are low.
Yesterday, Dr Noor Hisham said there were five deaths in Sabah, taking the toll in Malaysia to 199.
He said there were three new clusters reported in Sabah yesterday – Basung, Inai and Tempayan.
The Basung cluster involves a fishing jetty in Kudat. A total of 19 Covid-19 cases were identified through targeted screening.
The Inai cluster also in Kudat since yesterday noon had eight positive cases while 84 were awaiting screening results.
Lastly, the Tempayan cluster in Kota Kinabalu and Penampang found 19 positive cases. – The Vibes, October 22, 2020
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