Health Ministry helps man in quarantine to visit his critically-ill wife

The Health Ministry has intervened to help a man who was stuck in quarantine to visit his critically-ill wife.

Yesterday, 44-year-old Lee Kwei Cheong had sought Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng's help to highlight his plight while stuck at Armada Hotel in Johor Bahru after returning from Singapore.

After a press conference where Lee spoke through video call, Lim messaged Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah via Twitter for help.  

Lim's political secretary Yew Jia Haur said the Health Ministry officials reached out to Lee within three hours.

"They promised to handle the matter right away," Yew said.

Lee, who was yesterday on his 11th day under quarantine, had appealed to be given an early release instead of the full 14-day quarantine due to his family's circumstances.

This request was granted and he is now travelling from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur to see his wife and children.

Lee, who was given a release today, also expressed gratitude to all who have helped him.

Yesterday, he said his wife was in the hospital fighting a blood infection which had spread to critical organs and his children had to be handed over to relatives to be taken care of.

"The doctor found that the virus in my wife's blood had spread to her heart, lungs and now the brain," he had said.

Lim's 39-year-old wife, Cheah Chan Lian, was initially discharged from Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru after recovering from dengue but was later admitted to Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban due to a blood infection.

Cheah was then transferred to Pantai Hospital in Cheras for specialist treatment and is now at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre in Petaling Jaya.

Their three children - aged 12, 14 and 16 - had to temporarily stop going to school since Cheah was admitted to hospital for the second time on July 14 due to the blood infection.

Lee had said that his children need to be transferred to a new school from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur but this could not be done while he was in quarantine and his wife is in hospital.

He also recently lost his job as a technician at a Singapore electronics factory where he had worked for 18 years.

The cash-strapped Lee said he had to foot RM2,100 for the quarantine bill and also RM60,000 for his wife's medical bill.

He had also raised the issue of Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali who was only fined RM1,000 for skipping quarantine, asking if he could do the same instead of paying RM2,100 for quarantine.

As part of preventive measures against Covid-19, the government requires all overseas returnees to undergo a 14-day quarantine. - Mkini