By Ling Hui
KUCHING, May 7: Bintulu MP Dato Sri Tiong King Sing has admitted that the case concerning an extension of Covid-19 quarantine period on a mother and child duo followed by their exposure to Covid-19 patients was due to negligence of medical staff.
“After learning about the extension of quarantine on a mother and her daughter and allegations of them being exposed to other Covid-19 positive patients in the same ambulance, we asked the hospital and Health Department to investigate the matter,” he said in a statement.
Investigations found that initially, a mother was a close contact to a Covid-19 patient so she was arranged to be quarantined at the Quarantine and Treatment Centres for Covid-19 (PKRC) on April 16.
At the mother’s request, her four-year-old daughter was allowed to be with her during the isolation period but on April 20, the mother was confirmed positive for Covid-19. Thus, her quarantine period was extended while the daughter now also a close contact had to remain in quarantine.
On May 3, the mother was tested negative for the virus and was cleared for discharge but the daughter’s isolation period had not ended so the mother stayed back to take care of the young child.
Later on during a transfer of the mother and child, Tiong said the duo was inadvertently exposed to Covid-19 positive cases in the same ambulance due to negligence, thus the further extension of their isolation period.
In response to this, he started off his statement with an apology written in bold, “I’m Sorry” on behalf of all medical personnel involved.
However, he urged members of the public to take into consideration that the medical staff including the ambulance drivers have been working hard and long throughout the pandemic and some of them had to work 24-hour shifts for seven days a week.
“Please allow them some tolerance and understanding. Not everything needs to be hyped up maliciously on social media.
“But we can raise issues to the right authorities to fix problems and request corrections, instead of making a fuss and misleading others,” said Tiong. — DayakDaily
