KUCHING: The Kuching South City Council’s (MBKS) Covid-19 One Stop Centre head Dr Cheong Yaw Liang had confirmed that eight health frontliners had passed out at the centre due to heat exhaustion.
He said the incident occurred last Saturday (May 22) at around 1 pm where the frontliners equipped with full personal protective equipment (PPE) suits were on duty during that time.
“They ‘pitam’ (passed out) for a few seconds and were stable after that,” he told New Sarawak Tribune on Sunrday (May 23).
He said following the incident, the whole operations at the centre had to be put on hold for 20 minutes. After that, the operations returned to normal.
PPE is essential to make sure the health and safety of staff are protected from catching Covid-19 while treating patients or when taking swabs of patients.
However, putting them on for a long period can lead to heat related illness as well.
The Covid-19 One Stop Centre began operating on May 3. It provides swab tests, Covid-19 signs and symptoms assessment, compounds for standard operating procedures (SOPs) violations and issuance of quarantine and release orders.
The public can call the centre’s hotline at 082-597539 or 082-597790 for further enquiries.
