As the coronavirus continues to spread globally, I’m sure most of us are aware of how serious the situation is right now.
In many countries, lockdowns have been implemented and everyone has been advised to stay at home, especially if they’re sick.
However, some sick people can’t seem to grasp the fact that they are putting everyone else around them at risk if they choose to go out and act like everything is normal, when they should be self-isolating instead.
Which is exactly what this Malaysian man here did.
Irresponsible Patient Lied To Staff At The Hospital
In case you’re unaware, Malaysia is the worst-hit Southeast Asian country and it has a total of 1,518 cases of Covid-19.
The sudden spike in cases began after a religious gathering that took place in Kuala Lumpur, which was attended by over 16,000 people from different countries.
So how exactly did the virus start spreading like wildfire among the whole nation, even to those who were not at the religious event?
I’m guessing that it’s because of people like this man.
A Malaysian doctor was fuming after coming across an irresponsible patient and she took to Facebook to write about her encounter with him.
The post was uploaded on Saturday, 21 Mar, and it has already received 23K likes and 20K shares so far.
Basically, a man who came in with his elderly father, as the latter was experiencing breathing difficulties. Just at one glance, the doctor could tell that something was really wrong because the older man was breathing rapidly, sweating, and looked pale.
To find out his travel history, she immediately asked him if he had joined Tabligh (the religious gathering), or anyone of his family members joined the event.
The man did not want to provide a clear answer to the question, and they had to repeatedly try to get it out of him.
Finally, he caved in and admitted that he had been at the Tabligh gathering, but still claimed that he “was fine and there’s nothing wrong with him”.
This left everyone in absolute shock.
He Was Supposed To Be In Quarantine
While the medical workers tried to get more information out of him, the man started to get agitated and even raised his voice to say that he was not sick and did not have any symptoms.
The doctor also explained in her post that those who attended the gathering had to go through the “first screening” by her colleagues beforehand and that they would not be allowed in the “safe zone”, which is where the man was at that point.
This basically means that the man had lied during the first screening, just so he would not be considered as a suspect case.
Since all the doctors and medical workers in the “safe zone” were not wearing full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) he was also putting all of their lives at risk.
However, the man still refused to cooperate and started yelling even more.
“Conversation became very difficult because patient is yelling and claiming he’s not wrong to go to tabligh and telling us he’s fine. We had to shout and made ourselves louder to ask questions n to get information ASAP,” the doctor wrote.
Eventually, after much probing, he revealed that he had already undergone a screening a day ago, and was waiting for his results.
This means that he is a suspected case and until the results arrive, he is expected to self-quarantine himself at home. But this man didn’t listen and risked the lives of the healthcare workers and other patients present at the hospital by leaving his house.
Immediate Evacuation And Disinfection
All the patients in that area were evacuated within five minutes so that the zone could be washed and disinfected immediately. The doctors also had to shower and change into new sets of clothes.
So yes, this is the amount of danger you can put others in if you don’t listen to the instructions given to you.
The doctor ended off her post by advising all her friends to stay at home, as they would never know what kind of irresponsible people were still lingering around outside.
I guess this man was just completely in denial as he still refused to admit that he was sick, even at the hospital itself.
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Although no one would want to think that they might have the coronavirus, it’s always important to be honest about where you went and what you’ve been doing. It could help to save the lives of so many other people, who might not even realise that they’re at risk.
Moral of the story: Please don’t ever lie to medical staff. They’re already doing their best and working super hard, so the last thing they need is to have their lives put in danger as well.
