Reported by:
Lai Siang Ching Sr2ComC
On the 5th of February, we conducted an interview with Dr Farook who has been working in Selayang Hospital as a medical doctor/ICU doctor for more than twelve years.
There have been lots of people ignoring the seriousness of the pandemic recently. Seeing this phenomenon, Dr Farook thinks that education plays an important role in providing accurate information to the public due to an information overload on the internet. Furthermore, he elaborates that experts who have a very thorough understanding of diseases should take up the role of educating the public. He adds that the discipline of people enforcing pandemic regulations is very vital too.
We then asked Dr Farook this: “Would you miss your family because you spent too much time on work?” He agreed and said that if things were calm at the hospital, he may take a day off for some family time. Even during workdays, he would squeeze some time in for his family because he thinks that having familial support is very important.
Dr Farook also mentioned that it is common to be very exhausted due to work, especially during a pandemic. The team would cover a teammate’s shift if they didn’t feel well, letting them have a day off.
Moreover, Dr Farook stressed the importance of protecting themselves from contracting the coronavirus. They must be wary of patients in serious condition due to a high risk of exposure in the ICU. Otherwise, they would catch Covid-19 easily.
When asked: “Is the vaccine safe?” Dr Farook again agreed. He said that although there would be some side effects that would cause fatigue or vomiting, it is still safe to be injected. Dr Farook mentioned that the fear surrounding the vaccine comes from some patients dying after receiving it. However, he attributed this to the patients’ poor health condition, stating that those with chronic illnesses like severe diabetes, hypertension or hyper cholesterol have passed due to their condition rather than the vaccine’s side effects. Hence, he concluded that most people in good health are safe to take the vaccine.
After answering all the questions, Dr Farook had some advice for us. He suggested that we stay at home as much as we can; and if going out is inevitable, we ought to wear a mask and practice social distancing. Only then can we lower our risk of Covid-19 infection.
