Some M’sians Are Stealing Hand Sanitisers from Hospitals Even When They’re Tied

The panic and fear of contracting the deadly coronavirus have led people to do some very questionable things.

As if hoarding supplies from supermarkets wasn’t bad enough, we now have cases of essential medial supplies being stolen from hospitals.

Yes, from hospitals.

Everyone should know by now that the lives of health workers are most at risk and that they should be protected at all costs, but it seems like some people are too selfish to let that happen.

Hand Sanitisers Being Stolen From Hospitals in Malaysia

A Malaysian nurse took to Facebook to beg members of the public not to steal hand sanitisers from hospitals.

She was angry and disappointed to find out that even hand sanitisers that were tied with cable ties were stolen.

The nurse posted pictures of items that had been stolen along with a long caption to the Facebook group Cempedak Cheese.

She mentioned that the photos were not taken by her and that they were either taken by other nurses or they were viral pictures that were circulating around Whatsapp.

In the post, she expressed how disappointed she was at those who had stolen the hand sanitisers, as they were supposed to know how important they are to hospitals.

She explained that the nurses had to use hand sanitiser every time they moved from one patient’s bed to another and that they were practising the “5 moments of hand hygiene”.

This is to reduce the risk of infection between patients.

“If you take our hand sanitiser how do we treat patients safely and fast?” she wrote.

She also said that she understands how worried everyone is over the Covid-19 outbreak. However, it is easier for the public to keep themselves protected by washing their hands as often as they like, as compared to medical staff, who don’t have the luxury of doing so.

She explained that doctors who had to visit 30 patients in one go do not have the time to stop and wash their hands every time they move from one bed to another.

“Help us to help you. Taking our sanitiser doesn’t help us. You’re helping the virus & bacteria,” she said.

Happening In Multiple Hospitals And Clinics

This is not the first time that something like this has happened.

In fact, multiple health workers in Malaysia have reported cases of hand sanitisers and face masks being stolen from their hospitals.

Since Malaysia’s lockdown has been extended for another two weeks, perhaps many are worried that they’ll run out of hand sanitisers by then.

But that still doesn’t make it a valid excuse to steal from hospitals.

Posts have been circulating around Twitter as well, with many netizens expressing their concern for medical staff.

A lot of them are disappointed in the selfish people who have resorted to stealing just to keep themselves protected while having no concern for the safety of health workers.

Plus, it has been proven that washing your hands with soap thoroughly is far more effective than using hand sanitiser to keep bacteria away.

So why steal hand sanitiser when you can just…wash your hands at home?

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I wouldn’t be surprised if soap starts to get stolen from shops now.

Malaysia now has 1,796 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 20 deaths.

The country will continue to remain in lockdown until 14 Apr 2020, and they hope to flatten the curve and stabilise the situation in Malaysia by then.