Keeping our senior citizens safe
HARI Raya is always a joyous celebration at senior care home Pusat Jagaan Warga Tua Sri Tanjung Sungai Buloh, Selangor, and this year, its assistant manager Abdul Azmi Azman is determined to keep it that way despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Families have not been allowed to visit the residents at the private nursing home since March 18 when the movement control order (MCO) was imposed, and they are not able to meet them for Hari Raya either.
It is difficult but it is crucial to ensure the health and safety of the elderly, says Abdul Azmi.
“Usually, most of the residents here go back home to their family’s houses to celebrate Hari Raya. Those who can’t, receive visitors or hold family gatherings here. This year we will only celebrate by ourselves,” he says.
The female-only Muslim home houses 23 residents who are cared for by eight in-house staff. They have been busy preparing Raya delicacies this past week, while some families have also sent Raya biscuits and new clothes to the residents.
“Everything was handed over at the gate, though, they had no contact at all with our residents. Of course, I encouraged them to post or courier the gifts if they could.”
Despite the changes brought about by the pandemic and the ensuing movement control order (MCO), the residents are coping well, including those who are in need of medical attention, Abdul
Azmi adds.
“Some of the residents are bedridden and a few are senile, so they are vulnerable. And most are aged over 60 – they have a high risk of getting infected. That is why we decided to close the home to visitors immediately after the government announced the MCO.
“We have also stopped taking in new residents for the time being as we don’t want to risk infection,” said Abdul Azmi.
This Raya holiday will also be shorter for them: The residents are getting ready to be tested for Covid19.
“We received an email from the Health Ministry about the SOPs (standard operating procedures) we need to follow. Now we are just waiting for the testing date to be confirmed,” says Abdul Azmi.
Early this month, the Health
Ministry identified old folks homes as a target group for Covid-19 testing as senior citizens are among the most vulnerable to infection.
According to Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, a mortality review of 99 of 105 deaths reported in Malaysia showed that the age group with the highest number of Covid-19 fatalities are those aged between 61 and 70 years.
“This age group had the highest number of Covid-19 deaths with 32 cases or 32.2%, while the secondhighest age group were those aged 71 to 80, with 19 cases, or 19.2%,” he was reported as saying.
The screenings will be done in phases, Dr Noor Hisham has told the press.
“Next in line will be the 357 care centres registered under Act 506 (Private Healthcare Facilities And Services Act 1998) and 26 nursing homes registered under Act 586.
“In addition, there are 1,000 private old folks homes not registered under any Act currently,” he had said.
Lauding the government for taking proactive action, Universiti Malaya’s geriatric medicine expert Prof Dr Tan Maw Pin says it is crucial to prevent what happened, and is happening, in senior care homes in the United States, Britain and Europe from happening here.
“Covid-19 spread very fast in senior care homes internationally and caused a high number of deaths there. We have managed to keep it under control at the homes here so far with the government’s decisive action to bar visitors at the start of the MCO.
“But the elderly remain a highrisk group, so we need a concerted effort from all parties to protect them,” she says.