Videos of Covid-19 patients next to overflowing drain rile netizens

 

Rain or shine, Covid-19 patients needing oxygen support are treated on this walkway over a drain outside the Bukit Mertajam Hospital.

GEORGE TOWN: Two videos showing Covid-19 patients receiving treatment next to an overflowing monsoon drain outside the Bukit Mertajam Hospital have outraged netizens over the state of affairs there.

It is learnt that following a downpour, water started gushing from the drain next to what appeared to be a covered walkway put up for those with breathing difficulties to get their oxygen supply.

There is only a corrugated roof over the walkway, leaving those on it at the mercy of the wind.

Bukit Mertajam, the key town in the Seberang Perai Central district, has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Penang for the past few weeks, pushing the state’s total to four-digit figures.

Yesterday, there were 449 new cases recorded in the district alone, doubling the number in the four other districts in the state. The major contributor appeared to be the Perai and Juru area, which together have recorded slightly more than 1,500 new infections in the past two weeks.

The Bukit Mertajam Hospital is one of the two primary Covid-19 centres in the district, with the Seberang Jaya Hospital being the other.

In response to the viral videos, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim said he had asked Parliament for more funding to upgrade the hospital, which is more than 100 years old.

In the meantime, he said, a sponsor had discussed with the hospital authorities plans to build an extension at the emergency ward at a cost of about RM110,000.

Sim, who has donated respirators worth nearly RM50,000 to the hospital, said work was expected to begin soon.

Late last month, the 242-bed hospital was made a hybrid Covid-19 hospital, with 120 of its beds set aside for the purpose. - FMT