Doctors fought pandemic at their own risk

PETALING JAYA: After an unrelenting period where they furiously fought to hold back the tide of Covid-19 infections, medical frontliners are heaving a sigh of relief now that 90% of the country’s adult population are fully vaccinated.

Dr Mohan Babu Ramaloo, a house officer stationed at Hospital Taiping in Perak, is pleased with the milestone and hopes this will convince the vaccine-hesitant to get inoculated.

The 25-year-old said fighting the virus at the peak of the crisis affected his mental health.

“It was depressing, and I was in a constant state of anxiety about going out due to the devastating effects of the pandemic,” he said.

He also recalled the ordeal of having to be in personal protective equipment constantly.

“We had to bear with the intense heat of wearing the suit, and for a very long time,” he added.

With this tiring and difficult period behind him, Dr Mohan still advises the public to continue to take precautions and be vigilant as interstate travel is allowed.

Dr Nor ‘Azlah Mohammad Azhar, who is with a clinic in Rompin, Pahang, said October “is when we are finally able to sit down and take a breather, seeing a downtrend in cases along with the completion of mass vaccinations.”

“Looking at how far we’ve come, I’d say it’s all worth it,” said the 30-year-old medical officer.

She added that their job scope has expanded from just seeing patients at the clinic to doing the sampling for hundreds of Covid-19 swab tests daily, and other duties.

“I also attend to Covid-19 patients at home via the mobile Covid-19 Assessment Centre (CAC),” she said.

Remembering the worst moments of the pandemic, Dr Nor ‘Azlah said it was an exhausting journey over many months.

Some of them, she added, were also deployed to quarantine centres and low-risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC).

Dr Nor ‘Azlah shared that when her pregnant best friend was diagnosed with Category 4 Covid-19, it was no longer “just another case” for her.

“Here was someone dear to me. It helped remind me to treat each patient as a person and not just another case,” she said.

Her best friend finally recovered and gave birth.

Sharing stories and struggles among colleagues became an antidote to all the stress and pressure they had to deal with.

“There were times that I felt burnt out, but I was lucky I stayed not too far from my parents. I would feel recharged after a visit home.“Having supportive friends also helped. Just sharing our stories or problems might not sound like much but to me, it made a world of difference,” she said.

The battle is far from over, insisted Dr Nor ‘Azlah.

“We have to accept that the virus now lives among us – so always remember to keep a physical distance, wash your hands and wear masks,” she added.