Excited PUS can’t wait to see family as 14-day quarantine ends
MIRI: Veteran offshore worker Joshua Dennis could not contain his excitement after being told he could go home to his family upon completing his 14-day quarantine period as a Person Under Surveillance (PUS) at a hotel here yesterday.
The 58-year-old, who has been attached to Shell Malaysia Exploration Production for 39 years, had been away for work since March 3 and, upon returning here from Sabah, was required to undergo the compulsory quarantine period.
“I’m very excited to leave because I’ve not seen my family for almost seven weeks. I’ve never been away from them for this long and I really miss them,” he said when contacted.
With the exception of one son who is working in India, Joshua said his three other children as well as grandchildren and several nieces are currently with his wife at the family’s home in Lambir, just about 10km from the hotel where he was being quarantined.
“All of them had gathered at our big house since the first day of the Movement Control Order, to go through this period together,” he said, adding they have been communicating with each other using video calls.
He also expressed appreciation to his superiors and employer, for helping him and his fellow colleagues get through their isolation period comfortably.
In describing his stay at the hotel, he said healthcare personnel would take the body temperature of PUS cases twice daily, and that packed food would be delivered to the front door of their rooms.
No hotel staff were allowed to enter the rooms of those under quarantine as per the criteria set, he added.
“Despite feeling lonely and isolated, we were at least able to communicate with our loved ones using our mobile phones,” he said.