I AM a medical officer in the emergency department of a small district hospital. I'm what is popularly known these days as a front liner.

When my colleagues and I heard that our hospital had been chosen as the centre for treating Covid-19 cases in our state, many of us were worried and scared. We were worried because we are understaffed and under-equipped, and scared that we would be unable to provide the best care for our patients.

Nevertheless, being chosen as the treatment centre for Covid-19 patients was a great honour, and we embraced the decision made by the Health Ministry. We prepared ourselves for the challenge of having to stay away from our loved ones. We either sent them away to stay with relatives or kept ourselves from them, fearing that we would spread this deadly coronavirus to them.

When we transformed into a Covid-19 centre, we had to forgo our locum, which reduced our income by 30% to 50% per month. For the safety of our patients, we had no choice but to abide by the rules.

Our zoning in the emergency setting has been changed as well. We now have a Covid-19 red zone, respiratory zone, SARI (severe acute respiratory infection) zone, non-covid-19 red zone, yellow zone and screening centre. We are assigned to a different zone according to the shift system.

While serving in our designated zone, we have to wear full personal protective equipment (PPE). People who have seen photos of the PPE might have wondered how hot it would be for the person wearing it for hours on a daily basis. Sometimes, we even have to use black garbage plastic bags as substitutes when there is a low supply of PPE.

So when our Prime Minister said that front liners can claim for a special allowance, which is RM400 each for February and March and RM600 starting from April, we were delighted. No terms and conditions were stated back then. We filled up the application forms and handed them to the clerk in charge.

By April, our claims were not paid yet, but we didn't bother to check with our clerk as we knew there would be lots of paperwork involved.

Then we received a file containing the clauses for claiming the allowance. When we read through them, we became agitated, frustrated and sad. Apparently, only those working in specific zones, namely the red zone, respiratory zone, SARI zone and screening centre, for more than 15 days a month are entitled to a full claim. If one worked fewer than 15 days, one could only claim half the amount!

As a hospital for Covid-19 patients, why aren't all of us entitled to the allowance? Worse still, we are the frontliners in the emergency department! We have staff assigned to these other zones as well. If there are no cases in their respective zones, they still have to help us in the Covid-19 zones, doing documentation, sending blood for investigations, etc.

Moreover, some patients and their family members do not give a truthful account of their movements or present with non-specific symptoms when they come for emergency treatment. When they end up being Covid-19 positive, aren't the healthcare workers who treated them at risk as well?

Covid-19 is a global pandemic so how can one ascertain whether the patient isn't a suspected case until proven otherwise? Thus, why aren't we deserving of the allowance?

Let's be real; who doesn't prefer to stay at home in this critical period, spending quality time with family members instead of risking their lives in hospital saving other people's lives?

The government can pay RM150 per day per person for 14 days to quarantine travellers coming back from overseas in at least a three-star hotel. That's a total of RM2,100 per person, which can pay for the claim of three front liners.

We are not asking for more, merely requesting for what is right, but no management will hear us out or understand our plight.

Of course, many netizens will definitely criticise us and say it's our job to serve the people. It's never easy to put oneself in other people's shoes, hence it is pointless to explain to each and every one out there.

And since we've taken the Hippocratic Oath (Do no harm), we will continue to do our daily work.

We plead with everyone to abide by the MCO and hopefully the pandemic will end soon.

To all healthcare workers out there, it's a tough time and many things aren't going as we hope for, but together, we can fight this!

XENA

Batu Pahat