Healthcare workers urged to stay suited up

PETALING JAYA: Healthcare workers should take proper precautions by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and not let their guard down to prevent Covid-19 from spreading among themselves and the community, say health experts.

For the safety of all healthcare workers, Malaysian Public Health Medicine Specialist Association president Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar believed that it was perhaps better for them to wear PPE to safeguard themselves.

“It is very tiring to wear PPE for long hours. There are those who are working more than eight hours a day and many more who are on double shifts. Then you see others who have let their guard down and that is when they get infected, ” he said when contacted yesterday.

On Sept 10, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that cases were rising among frontliners, adding that about 53% of the cases among healthcare workers were infections spread by their own colleagues.

He urged all healthcare workers to protect themselves first and foremost before treating their patients.

In the Sungai cluster, two healthcare workers from a private medical centre had passed the virus on to their family and colleagues.

On the increased infections among healthcare workers, Dr Zainal said it could be due to healthcare workers not following the standard operating procedure (SOP).

Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman concurred that healthcare workers should wear PPE as they served as frontliners who dealt directly with the public.

“They should protect themselves and patients from any possibility of infection, ” she said.

However, Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia president Dr Raj Kumar Maharajah pointed out that forcing healthcare workers to use PPE all the time might not serve its purpose considering that they could get infected

by unconfirmed Covid-19 patients and from public functions outside the healthcare facility.

Currently, Dr Raj said safety protocols were adequate but that some healthcare workers did not practise physical distancing, wash hands regularly or wear masks in the hospital pantry or rest room.

“We take it for granted that our colleagues cannot be positive. We should not let our guard down. Healthcare workers who are suspicious of their status should get tested to prevent infecting their patients and colleagues, ” he said.