* Mobile *

 

Covid-19 arrived in Seremban some time in March. My clinic was the first to be closed for decontamination works. My staff were one of the first to be quarantined. During that time, they had to be quarantined for 14 days.

During the 14 days, MCO started and UTC had to be closed. My clinic included.

All of us were mobilized to different places. As for me, I was mobilized to the mobile team. Our main task was to do field sampling. It was something new. For three months, March until June, we went to factories, schools, marketplaces, the prison, houses and neighborhoods.

So I had the experience of putting on full PPE - it is kind of funny that now I do not even have to explain what each letter stands for. Everyone knows now, PPE is Personal Protective Equipment. 

First wave: Kluster Seri Petaling. Went to many surau to do field sampling. I noticed that I was pretty "jonah", to tell you the truth. This was due to a few "memorable" incidents. One, we went to a homestay which housed seven foreigners who joined the gathering. Swabbed them. Four of them turned out to be positive. Second, went to swab three different people in three different houses in one day. One positive case. Later returned to the homestay to swab the remaining three people. All three positive. Yeah.

Second wave: Kluster AFT. I went to the first sampling after the mortality. We started nearing maghrib. More than half turned out to be positive. Then three sessions at the mosque. Wore Tyvek suit from 9am until about 4pm or 5pm. Had dermatitis after that. Went to clinic to get oral prednisolone.

Third wave: screenings - marketplace, old folks home and immigration depot. Memorable incidents included the home's manager did not remember who was who and almost all of the senior citizens had Alzheimer and seeing firsthand the situation in an immigration depot.

I never knew I had the strength and stamina to endure the heat when wearing PPE. But, as it turned out, I could withstand wearing it more than 3 hours. Often, I was one of the last people to doff. We were wearing PPE and doing field sampling almost daily even during Ramadhan! I remember being so thirsty and dehydrated - I did not even have any saliva to swallow. Allah gave us strength. We survived all that. We managed to give the best service to the people.

An old activity that I restarted during all this was working out. The last time I worked out was when I was a teenager - my mother used to be scared that we will gain weight and get diabetes, so she forced us to work out. I was even lifting weights then, okay...like 3kg dumbbells' or something. Haha.

One of the best things about going out doing field sampling is that it made you more aware of the Covid-19 situation in your locality. You started to understand the importance of all the precautionary measures promoted by the government. You are more knowledgeable in assessing risks. You have felt the fatigue of having to screen hundreds of people, of sweating and repeating the same instructions every time...so you work more to prevent the spread of the virus.

So, listen to the people who have sweat for you, citizens. Listen to the people who worked for you tirelessly day and night, keeping you safe. Let's try our best to follow the new norm. 

Covid fatigue is real, of course. We do get tired and our need to socialize is at times very hard to curb. But, understand this, there are safe ways to meet the people you love - wear a mask, physical distancing and hand hygiene. Treat each decision to go out like a life or death decision.

#kitajagakita

***

Exile - Taylor Swift feat Bon Iver

(Not a fan of Taylor Swift but I LOVE the line "so what am I defending now?" especially how Bon Iver sings it.)