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KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — DAP MP Hannah Yeoh has urged for Malaysians to not stigmatise those who are confirmed to have the Covid-19 infection, as such stigma may discourage more people from stepping forward to undergo health screening to determine if they have been infected.
In a poster carried on her Facebook page yesterday, Yeoh urged Malaysians to "show some empathy to those who tested positive for Covid-19".
"After recovery, don't treat them differently. Stigma can deter others from getting themselves screened and seeking early treatment," the same poster quoting her read.
In a Facebook post accompanying the poster, the Segambut MP wrote: "The stigma is real. Please empathise with the individuals or affected families. Let's heal together as a nation."
Yeoh, who is also formerly the deputy minister of women, family and community development, had recently also unknowingly came into close contact with Sarawak MP Kelvin Yii who later tested positive for Covid-19.
At the time of their March 12 meeting along with other MPs, Yii did not display any symptoms of the Covid-19 infection and did not know that another individual who he had close contact with would later test positive for Covid-19.
Yesterday, Yeoh said all who attended the meeting later went for checks after Yii tested positive for Covid-19, confirming that she has tested negative for Covid-19.
Public opinion
In a hint of stigma that Covid-19 patients were facing, some of them have taken great pains to list out the chronology of events in their cases, as well as the precautions or measures they had taken to get themselves immediately screened and to prevent others from being infected if they were to test positive.
As an example, Yii previously wrote a lengthy statement on his Facebook page to explain the circumstances of how he had discovered that he had unknowingly had close contact on March 2 with someone who would later turn out to be a Covid-19 patient.
Yii said he had immediately gone the next day for a Covid-19 test after receiving news on March 14 night that the person who he had close contact with had tested positive for Covid-19, taking the precaution despite not showing any symptoms himself.
Yii also explained how he had immediately cancelled all his public events and put himself in self-isolation after hearing the news on March 14 night, stressing that he would never have put others in danger. Yii, who was asymptomatic, did not display any symptoms even after he tested positive and was warded.
While the Health Ministry does not reveal the identities of patients to ensure confidentiality and privacy, UDA Holdings Berhad chairman Datuk Hisham Hamdan had previously felt compelled to publicly identify himself as Case 26 and clarify the situations surrounding his case.
In a lengthy explanation, Hisham had among other things noted that several other Covid-19 cases were merely linked to his case, and that he was not the source of these cases.
Among other things, Hisham also noted that he had personally requested to be tested for Covid-19 on February 27 which is the same day that he had shown symptoms, and that he had stayed home the same day before test results the next day showed he was positive.
A Covid-19 patient identified as Case 33, who had came into close contact with Case 26 on February 24, also wrote a public statement explaining the entire chronology of events including efforts to seek medical attention and getting tested and which led to the discovery of having also been infected with Covid-29.
Case 33 had also apologised to others that the patient had unknowingly infected.
Lawyer Rosli Dahlan — whom many believe to be Case 33 — also wrote a public statement to say that he had been transparent and told the truth regarding him having tested positive when asked by others, noting that he did so even when it caused him to be stigmatised.
Don't stigmatise
Yesterday, Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah urged Malaysians not to discriminate against those who attended a mass tabligh gathering at a Kuala Lumpur mosque, and said they should not be blamed for the increase in Malaysia's total tally of Covid-19 cases.
“What is important is that we help to detect and treat the Covid-19 infections among the tabligh followers, their families and their contacts,” he had said.
Participants of the tabligh event attended by thousands from February 27 to March 1 now form the biggest cluster of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, while nine of the 15 deaths so far are also linked to this cluster.
