Not true that elderly man died of Covid-19 after children came home - granddaughter

 

A video clip showing an old man who contracted Covid-19 walking into an ambulance had been circulated on social media for several days. The man, 82-year-old Mustafa Ismail, died a few days later.

Some irresponsible quarters then posted the footage on the short-form video application TikTok, falsely alleging that the late grandfather and his wife, Eshah Yusof, 73, were infected after their children returned to their hometown in Kampung Pangkal Chuit, Machang, Kelantan.

The video captioned: “The child came from a Covid-19 outbreak area and infected the grandfather and grandmother” has gone viral.

However, the elderly couple’s granddaughter, Nur Amirah Abu Bakar, said her grandparents were infected by a cluster spreading in their village.

“My grandfather was indeed infected with Covid-19 before he passed away last Wednesday (May 5), but not because his children returned home, as claimed,” said the 32-year-old.

“He was infected through the Pangkal Chuit cluster, which was spreading in the village,” she explained.

Nur Amirah said her grandparents were confirmed to have Covid-19 on April 30 after coming into close contact with an individual who worked at a tahfiz which was placed under enhanced movement control order (EMCO).

It was reported that the Pangkal Chuit cluster was among the 12 new Covid-19 clusters detected on April 26. Three days later, four areas in three states were placed under EMCO.

“My grandfather and grandmother lived with their child who worked at the religious school. After testing positive for Covid-19, they were admitted to Kuala Krai Hospital for treatment,” she told Malaysiakini when contacted.

“On May 1, my grandfather was found to have fallen in a bathroom and was unconscious. He was later confirmed dead.”

Nur Amirah said she did not expect the video footage uploaded to TikTok to go viral, receiving 147,000 views as of yesterday.

“That was my grandfather’s last video before he left all of us. I shared the video with a desire to commemorate him,” added Nur Amirah.

“It never crossed my mind that some irresponsible parties would spread something that is untrue,” she lamented.

“My grandfather has seven children, including three children who live outside Kelantan. But they have not come home to Kelantan since the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As a granddaughter, I did not greet nor kiss when I visited them as usual, for I adhered to the SOP and that they are old. We often reminded my grandfather not to go outside because we were worried,” Nur Amirah said. - Mkini