YOURSAY | Death toll mounts, health system under stress

YOURSAY | ‘The situation of Covid-19 patients dying at home is not good.’

Growing number of Covid-19 patients dying at home

PurpleJaguar0553: The rise of Covid-19 patients dying at home is very sad and comes as no surprise as the government has relied on only one man to manage the pandemic.

The health minister and deputy ministers are nowhere to be seen and are incompetent when they are seen. When the right talent is available and on offer from the opposition, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government played games and politics with nary a concern for the lives of the people.

Their only concern, now that they have their emergency, is the right time to call for elections. Remaining in power is all that they think about. Incompetence and lack of ability and foresight lead to such tragic consequences.

Lives are lost when it could very well have been avoided with a better thought-out plan and organisation.

Mediocrity unfortunately infects and festers in PN like cancer, but with the pain being felt by the people who lost their loved ones and the fear of many for the fate of those they care for.

Mosquitobrain: The Covid-19 pandemic again has pried open our weaknesses in many areas. We've experienced before the life-claiming Nipah virus and Sars. We're weak in coordinating, mobilising and have no proper contingency plans in place.

We lack infrastructures, facilities and logistics to tackle an epidemic. During an epidemic, time is of the essence. We certainly cannot treat an epidemic with fire-fighting techniques. We need functional standard operating procedures (SOPs).

We have the budget and allocation to put all these in place. But after so many years, where have the billions gone to?

Many lives are lost. We really never learn. It is pathetic to say, we're not ready to face a pandemic.

Funnily but sarcastically, some “wise” leaders have gone on to say we need to proclaim an emergency to deal with Covid-19.

What we really need here is science, not politics!

BlueShark1548: I hope the Agong knows what is happening to his subjects. They are left unattended and dying at home. We beg the Agong to show mercy and take immediate action to address this problem.

We have MySejahtera and yet not enough contact tracing is done. Those tested positive are told to wait at home (for lack of hospital beds and not enough ambulance) without proper guidance for family members and regular monitoring.

The PN government, which declared an emergency, seems to have made the move more to save itself rather than those tested positive with Covid-19.

We are now desperate but the Health director-general is still using the same strategies after one year. He refuses to resign or get a team of experts inside and outside the government to assist him.

Malaysian1: Because of ineptitude and a couldn't-care-less attitude of this ineffective government, we have suddenly become a third world country.

Can anyone boast now that we have the best healthcare system in the world? Why have we not prepared more "makeshift" hospitals? What a shame.

Kingfisher1974: The situation of Covid-19 patients dying at home is not good. It is not easy to do self-monitoring at home for the patient and his or her caregivers. The signs of deterioration may not be obvious to an untrained person.

They should err on the side of caution if they do not feel well and/or show any warning signs, go straight to the hospital. Better take this seriously before more deaths occur.

GreenTurtle6724: Patients are to self-quarantine at home because there are not enough beds available at a hospital.

But are these patients assigned a medical officer to go around to their homes and monitor their conditions? Or at least teach them to make daily reports?

Constitutional Supremacy: The response so far has been lacklustre. The deaths are being justified as normal, that it is takdir (fate).

Why were private hospitals not roped in earlier? Why were these patients who died at home not admitted into private hospitals if there was no space at government ones? Why have we not converted convention centres into hospitals?

The emergency was justified to avoid deaths. But instead, after the emergency, announced death figures went up tremendously.

The government is so inefficient and clueless. It refuses to own up to its own shortcomings. The people are under lockdown. The livelihoods of thousands are affected. The movement control order (MCO) should be removed immediately.

If the MCO is justified to stem the spread of the virus, then why is the government allowing businesses to operate? We should now only have the recovery MCO.

Dr Steven Chow: In times of crisis, the weaknesses and maladies in our system are laid bare for all to see. It is time to realise that the Health Ministry cannot handle this pandemic alone and must ask for help in a meaningful private partnership approach.

MyMalaysia: This is a disgrace, letting people die at home while there are private hospitals available if government hospitals lack space. Other states also have hospital beds that can be used. Cooperation with private hospitals should have been enhanced much earlier.

Wee Chat: @MyMalaysia, not everyone can afford to be warded in private hospitals. A 10-day stay in private hospitals for mild symptoms costs around RM7,000 to RM10,000. For cases with severe symptoms, the fees can go up to as high as RM250,000.

OmegaCentral: Ministers or VIPs can go straight to the hospital and receive the best treatment. Ordinary folks will have to wait home. No oxygen? Sorry.

No Fear No Favour: The failed Health Ministry system to contain the pandemic equates to the incompetency of our illegitimate group of so-called leaders with zero sense and intellectual know-how to administer.

All the 72 ministers and their deputies, I regret to mention, are just collecting their dues and personal benefits at the expense of the taxpayers and the downtrodden common folk.

None of the ministries has shown any contributions to the well-being of our nation-building. Our nation’s political competency, economic and social structures are crumbling by the day.

Hobo60: So very sad for those asked to quarantine at home and then dying. Do something before more die like flies.

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