Caring for children orphaned by the Covid-19 pandemic

IN 2018, Sue* decided to quit her job after giving birth to her third child to focus on raising her young children. Last month, the 35-year-old stay-at-home mum lost her husband to Covid-19.

“I’m suddenly now a single mother, and have to be the sole provider for my family too.

“Luckily, my parents live nearby and they are able to help me,” she says.

Many are not so lucky as they find themselves as the sole parent and main breadwinner for their family after their spouses succumb to Covid-19.

Lina*, who also lost her husband to the coronavirus, has to find a way to not only support her family but also to pay off their family debts.

“We haven’t finished paying our house and car loans. My husband also took out some personal loans .... My children are young so that means it will be difficult for me to go out and work, “she says, adding that her parents are too old to help and her siblings have their own families to worry about.

With almost 1,400,000 cumulative Covid-19 cases in the country, Malaysia’s death toll as at Aug 14 stands at 12,228, leaving many loved ones not only in grief but also in uncertain living conditions.

Most worrying are children who are suddenly orphaned by the demise of both parents.

In a recent Facebook post which has gone viral, anaesthesiologist Dr Hana Hadzrami related the heartbreaking case of a 15-yearold who is now left as the “sole guardian” of a 12-year-old sibling after their mother passed away from Covid-19.

“We asked them, do you have any relatives? No. No grandparents, no uncles, no aunties. Their father has passed away. They only have a kind neighbour who has been sending them food since their mother was warded,” she wrote.

Then there is the case of university student Intan Iewanina Mohd Sulaiman, 21, who also suddenly has to shoulder the responsibility of caring for her four younger siblings after their parents lost their Covid-19 battle.

Luckily, it was reported that the five siblings have received attention from concerned parties who have pledged to help them until they finish their studies.

According to a recent research led by Imperial College London academics, an estimated 1.5 million children worldwide have lost a parent, custodial grandparent, or other relative who cared for them, due to Covid-19.

Of those, more than 1 million children experienced the death of one or both parents during the first 14 months of the pandemic, and another half a million experienced the death of a grandparent caregiver living in their own home, the study published in The Lancet estimated.

Before the pandemic, there were an estimated 140 million orphaned children worldwide.

The researchers call for urgent action to address the impact of caregiver deaths on children into Covid-19 response plans.

Children who have lost a parent or caregiver are at risk of profound short- and long-term adverse effects on their health, safety, and wellbeing, the report noted.

These children also have greater risks of mental health problems, family poverty, and physical, emotional, and sexual violence.

According to Malaysia’s Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, 33 children nationwide have been identified as having lost their parents or guardians to Covid-19.

On Friday, Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun was reported as saying that these children who suddenly became orphans would be assisted in terms of their social needs as well as given counselling to help them carry on with their lives.

“We hope community leaders will inform us when they learn of children who have lost their parents,” she was quoted as saying.

Rina said the children would be handed over to close relatives or next of kin who were willing and capable of taking care of them.

Otherwise, she said, the children would be placed with child protection institutions or a children’s shelter. – Agencies

* Not their real names.