DG the voice of encouragement in virus fight

PETALING JAYA: When Covid-19 infections began to swell earlier this month, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah sent out an uplifting message to the frontliners.

“Our country depends on us. Despite many sleepless nights and chronic fatigue, wipe your tears, chin up, eyes forward, let’s flatten the curve again,” he tweeted.

He cautioned the frontliners that there was “a huge battle ahead of us”. That tweet was sent out on Oct 3. There were 317 new infections that day, bringing the total number of cumulative cases to 10,216 then.

There has since been 47,000 “likes” to Dr Noor Hisham’s post.

Malaysians responded to the tweet, thanking the frontliners and describing them as unsung heroes.

Someone replied to his post with an image of Captain America.

Then on Oct 8, Dr Noor Hisham sent out a reminder again to his team to cheer them on.

“To all our frontline workers, please remember that we are the protector of the rakyat’s health and our nation’s safety; we are the last line of defence.

“We must keep our spirits up and continue to be strong,” he wrote.

He pointed out that it had been “10 long months for many of us on the frontlines and back scenes, working round the clock 24/7”.

“Many would feel fatigued or frustrated with every new cluster that emerges. After all, we are only human. We have a small window of opportunity to flatten the curve again.”

Dr Noor Hisham sent out a reminder to the Malaysian public as well.

“Let us be united in our war against this current large-scale Covid-19 transmission.

“We cannot win this war without public support. All we ask is for the public to ‘stay at home’ and if that is not possible, then please comply with the simple SOP; ‘avoid 3C & practise 3W’.”

Twitter users applauded the efforts by the frontliners.

“Thank you for keeping us all safe. You have set a fine example for the world to follow. This too shall pass and Malaysia will overcome it soon,” said @nirmalsbhat.

As for @ramliabdullah11, he wrote: “We, the public, are behind you and those in the frontline, Tan Sri. We also pray that God would grant you and the team strength while we observe the SOP.”