Stop sharing nurse's video, public told

Sabah Health Department director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi said she has received reports about the incident. -Pic courtesy of KKKR

By Olivia Miwil - March 7, 2020 @ 4:26pm

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Health Department is urging the public to stop spreading a video featuring a nurse claiming the presence of a suspected Covid-19 patient at the Luyang Health Clinic, here.

In the two-minute long footage, which has gone viral, a nurse called upon the public to be truthful with their condition when seeking treatment with healthcare staff to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The nurse made the comment when a patient, who just returned to Malaysia from Korea, had allegedly concealed the truth of her conditions at the triage area at the clinic. It is learnt that the patient was suffering from shortness of breath and was seeking treatment.

Sabah Health Department director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi said she has received reports about the incident.

She said initial checks found that the video was initially meant for personal usage and was not intended for public viewing.

“It is not part of the code of conduct of healthcare professionals to share it (video). Let’s put an end to it as we are carrying out normal procedures on how to handle a person-under-investigation (PUI).

“For now, the PUI is being home-quarantined and pending confirmation,” she told reporters after the launch of the state-level Public Health Carnival.

Also present were Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Seri Shafie Apdal and state Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Frankie Poon.

Dr Christina said besides working closely with the Immigration Department to handle arrivals of people from Covid-19-hit countries at entry points, the Health Department has taken necessary measures at hospitals and clinics.

Among those measures were to set up triage at entrances of health facilities to separate people with symptoms associated with Covid-19.

He said healthcare personnel were also equipped with personal protection equipment and undergo daily screenings.

To date, 138 PUIs have been screened but all of them are free from Covid-19.

Earlier, Shafie said the situation in Sabah is still under control with the necessary precautions being taken despite the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases increasing to 83 nationwide.

“However, we should not be complacent and I have informed Poon and Dr Christina to keep tabs on the (Covid-19) database and to keep me informed of the overall health situation.

“We have also taken the measures to reduce their burden by banning flights from China and Korea as well as other affected countries,” he said, adding the state had informed the relevant ambassadors about the rationale behind the bans.