PETALING JAYA: The spotlight on health frontliners has faded somewhat compared to the days when the Covid-19 contagion was at its peak in Malaysia, but their work has remained unrelenting till now.

In fact, they are on high alert for the possibility of a new wave of infections.

“We are now focusing on overseas returnees who need to do a second Covid-19 test and removal of their quarantine wristband in order to be released from quarantine, ” said health inspector Mastura Maznor, 37.

Mastura earned much public goodwill when she was photographed in her full PPE on a hot day, helping an elderly woman during Ramadan.

“During the fasting month, it felt like we no longer had any saliva to swallow as we were in the sun for hours in full PPE, ” she said yesterday.

Mastura said her role as a health inspector required her to investigate potential cases, conduct contact tracing and inspections at places with positive cases, as well as take Covid-19 samples, monitor quarantine cases and ensure positive cases were admitted to hospital.

“It was challenging when we had to search for positive cases, especially involving foreigners due to communication barrier, names that were hard to find and close contacts of positive cases that hid from us.

“We were lucky when the police helped us out, ” she said.

As for nurse Nur Faizatul Akmal Abdul Latif, 29, her workload has increased during the recovery movement control order (MCO).

This is partly because many more people were seeking help, due to fear of being infected.

Nur Faizatul, who works at a hospital in Perlis, said they were cautious about a second wave of infection.

“People should not let their guard down, ” she said.

Almost daily, the Health Ministry, has been imploring Malaysians to be disciplined by adhering to the standard operating procedure (SOP).

Public health groups said that frontliners were still hard at work as the battle against Covid-19 was not yet over.

They said that Malaysians should not be complacent even though the number of infected had dropped significantly.

“The majority of Malaysians have great respect for our frontliners after seeing the sacrifices they made to provide care when cases peaked, ” said Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr N. Ganabaskaran.

As a gesture of appreciation to frontliners for their courage, hard work and dedication, he said Malaysians should continue to maintain full adherence to the SOP.

He believed the country could expect cases to rise again periodically if there were negligence in observing the dos and don’ts.

Foreign news reports said Manila was back in lockdown after doctors and nurses cautioned that the healthcare system would collapse if the situation worsened.

In the case of Malaysia, apart from avoiding infections, Ganabaskaran said Malaysians should realise the importance of preventing another MCO.

“Many sectors have still not recovered. Some may not even recover. It is clear we can’t afford another MCO, ” he added.

Malaysian Public Health Physicians’ Association said although there were fewer admissions of patients for Covid-19 investigation and quarantine, the public should avoid crowded public places as increased mobilisation had proven to cause a greater wave of infections in other countries.

“People have to be responsible if they have symptoms or return from overseas, as well as practise vigilance when suspected cases are found in the local community.

“It is proven that more interaction and mobilisation of people in and within countries have triggered emerging Covid-19 cases, ” said its president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar.

He cited an example of a wedding event he attended in Perlis which should be emulated for following strict SOP.

“The host limited 60 people in one seating and it was supervised by policemen, Rela and an armed soldier.

“Guests had to register their attendance using the MySejahtera app and were given masks. The police did not allow anyone without mask to come in, ” he said.