Video of Malaysian medical frontliners sharing their plight in fighting Covid-19 goes viral

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has caused many Malaysian frontliners to show symptoms of burnout. Photo: The Star/S.S. Kanesan

A YouTube video about Malaysian medical frontliners on dealing with Covid-19 patients in Klang Valley hospitals has garnered over 351,000 views since it was first uploaded on July 12.

The 15-minute video, recorded on July 9, features the voices of the frontliners, but their faces are not shown and the pitch of their voices have been altered to obscure their identities.

The video was uploaded on the YouTube channel, Projek #BangsaMalaysia. In it, frontliners talked about the tough battle against Covid-19, which has claimed 6, 260 lives so far.

As of July 12, there has been a total of 844, 870 Covid-19 cases in the country.

Frontliners are exhausted and saddened by the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia.

“I’ve been fighting Covid since last year in the frontlines. The numbers are not fake. Based on the positivity rate, one in 10 people that you know, among your family members and friends, are already having Covid-19, ” a frontliner said in the video.

Her colleague shared: “Every day when we come to work, we have a great number of people who desaturate, which means suddenly they are unable to maintain normal oxygen levels.”

“We are replacing oxygen canisters by the hour. Some patients might be required to share oxygen with five other patients, ” lamented another.

The video has since been shared widely on social media and has received many comments from Malaysians.

Paulynne Cheng wrote: “Thank you for voicing out. Thank you for sharing your pain. Thank you for this wake-up call. And thank you for your selfless heroism. It feels so inadequate, but really, to all our frontliners, we owe you everything! Hope everyone will share this video so that their voices are amplified.”

“We are very sorry for everything the frontliners are put through. I was there in April 2021 when my dad got into the ED (emergency department). Everyone was on their feet, never a time to relax, yet smiling, never complaining.

"We have so much respect for all of you, the cleaners, helpers, nurses and doctors. We promise to do what we can to help you, by staying home, getting vaccinated and taking care of ourselves. Take care is all I can say. With plenty of love from us, ” said Sham Minnie.

Norliza Abu Bakar commented: “So sad to hear our frontliners (voicing) their frustrations. We can only listen and pray for all our frontliners to have the love, patience and energy to help the public. We salute you, frontliners. We will remain at home.”