It has been almost a year since our country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of cases is on the rise and there are no signs of it going down anytime soon, while our frontliners and medical professionals are overworked, but are still risking their lives for the wellbeing of others.
But the ones who are most affected by this pandemic are the COVID-19 patients themselves, not only physically, but also mentally challenged by their own community who often look down on them.
One Twitter user shared her own experience of being discriminated against as a COVID-19 patient while being 37 weeks pregnant.
Hazwani, or better known as Wani, started feeling ill on October 17th when she woke up with a bad cold and a mild body ache which she then took some medicine.
Her caption reads: “I went into deep sleep, but the pain didn’t go away. I got super paranoid so I asked Hafiq to send me to the hospital.”
“At the hospital, I did a quick checkup. I had no fever, but I was more worried about the muscle pain. And since we had our monthly checkup there, the doctor admitted me into the hospital. The doctor told me that if anything happens, it’s easier for them to check up on me”
She then proceeds to wait in the ward, while waiting for her COVID-19 swab test results.
Photo via Twitter (@HazwaniHaniMK)
According to Wani, she initially felt a bit scared while in the ward all by herself as her husband could not accompany her because they had to follow the hospital’s SOPs.
She added that it didn’t help either that the doctors and nurses were walking around in their personal protective equipment (PPE) suits.
“I was talking on the phone with Hafiq, and one of the nurses came in. The result was supposed to be out at 8pm but it was dragged until 10pm. I was super chill because I did not have any of the symptoms, but I actually didn’t realise I’ve already started to lose my sense of smell and taste.”
“The nurse came in and stared at me. I was looking at her, and she was looking at me. I asked about my result and she said: ‘Sorry, your result is positive.’”
Not believing what she just heard, Wani asked the nurse again, and the nurse confirmed that she tested positive for the deadly virus.
She told her husband via video call, which her husband then told their family. Wani then took a picture of her test results and sent it over to her boss and colleagues as they were her close contacts.
“Then an ambulance was already waiting for me downstairs to take me to Sungai Buloh Hospital,” she added.
Despite being isolated from the outside world and not being able to see her family for almost 14 days, she also had to deal with her neighbours now spreading false stories about what had actually happened.
“Of course, the bawang around my residential area. It was crazy. So many false statements were made about me and my family. Suddenly everybody was concerned about me and started texting me, but actually, they just wanted to be the first to get the news to spread around.”
“Even worse, these people started spreading my wedding photos and coming to our house just to take pictures of our house, our car. I can’t believe it. This is a disease, not a crime!”
Wani clarified that her family members, including her husband, tested negative for the virus.
She was discharged from the Sungai Buloh Hospital two weeks later and registered herself to the same hospital she did her checkup previously to give birth, but even the hospital turned her away.
Her caption reads: “They were scared. We spent quite a lot of money for monthly checkups, and we didn’t even receive any calls or explanation from the doctor, up until today.”
After what she had to go through, we’re glad that she is well and that her baby is okay!
Guys, this is not how we should treat those who are unwell. It’s not their fault that they got sick.
Let’s support each other, especially now that everyone is going through a hard time. We’re all in this together, Malaysians!
By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat
