Frustrated in quarantine

THREE weeks ago, I made a trip to Rio to watch the Olympic Games. Before I left, I checked the WHO website on the yellow fever vaccine requirement. The list showed that all countries in Africa, central and south America including Brazil (except Rio and Sao Paolo) required visitors to be vaccinated. Just to double check, I went to a private clinic and the doctor confirmed that I didn’t need to be vaccinated.

The Health Ministry knew pretty well that many Malaysians would be going to Rio either as athletes, officials or supporters. So it should have placed messages in the media specifying that it’s mandatory for all going to Rio to get vaccinated and this would have solved a lot of problems.

When I returned on Aug 24, I saw a signboard requiring all passengers coming from Rio to report to the Health Ministry’s screening and quarantine centre.

A group of supporters in front of me very quickly went through the auto gate and left. Being an honest and responsible citizen, I went to the screening centre. Since I could not produce the certificate of vaccination, I was told that I would be held in the quarantine centre for six days.

What about the 10 or so supporters and probably many more who knew about this quarantine and got away? And what about the VIPs who were in the same flight as me? It’s clear cut double standard. In fact, if I had known about this six-day quarantine I too would have just gone through the auto gate and got home to be with my family without any hassle.

I was given a flyer stating that one could be quarantined for a maximum of six days and if there were no symptoms in three or four days, one would be free to go. I pointed this out to the head of the quarantine unit but she was adamant on insisting that I stay for six full days. Their calculation of six full days was perplexing as well. One officer said it starts from the time you stamped the passport in Rio, another said from the time you left Rio following Malaysian time (difference of 11 hours) and the third said it starts from when you landed at KLIA.

I appealed to them, saying I had many commitments and it would be a problem and also a loss of income for me. I told them that there should be a contingency plan but everything I said fell on deaf ears.

The bigger shock came when I was told where I would be staying for the next six days. It was a dormitory for 11 people with one bathroom. This dormitory is normally used by foreigners. A few of those under quarantine opted to stay in a hotel as their employers would pay for them since they were in Rio on a job assignment.

How can Malaysians be given this kind of treatment? I am a senior citizen and a retired civil servant and I am given this shabby treatment. The meals provided were bought from stalls outside the airport. What if we had suffered food poisoning?

Every day they took our temperature and blood pressure twice. My blood pressure reading was 200/87. I was getting worried but the medical staff taking the pressure seemed cool. After three days of reading and my pressure was not coming down, I called my lawyer who got in touch with the doctor in charge. They became more concerned after that. If anything had happened to me while I was in quarantine, who would be responsible? I don’t think they even cared.

Whenever I raised a question with the good doctor, I got the same answer: “I am following orders” or “It’s our SOP.” I would like to ask the Health Ministry who should compensate for our loss during the six days we were in quarantine. I think it’s time the Health Ministry gets its act together. The whole episode does not reflect well on our civil service.

SICK AND FRUSTRATED

Kuala Lumpur