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COVID-19 Patients At Quarantine Centre In Sabah Decide To Clean Filthy Toilets Themselves

Health officials had said they would clean the toilet themselves when there aren't too many patients to attend to.

Cover image via Jimmy Chin (Facebook)

A group of COVID-19 patients in Sabah had to take matters into their own hands and help clean filthy toilets after realising that there were no cleaners around

On 9 January, Facebook user Jimmy Chin wrote, "When I first went to the bathroom at the quarantine centre in Likas, the hygiene there was just so miserable that I almost vomited the char siew rice I had last week. No one came to clean the place, it felt as if we were left to fend for ourselves."

Meanwhile, another patient at the centre also wrote about the incident on Facebook. Samson Liew said, "Jimmy Chin made a suggestion the other day that we should clean the toilet by ourselves since no one is doing the cleaning. At first, I thought that he had lost his mind and I thought he was joking."

"This morning he took action and really went to do the cleaning by himself. Seeing his little action, some of us decided to join in on the cleaning."

Image via Jimmy Chin (Facebook)

Photos uploaded on social media show that the place was in terrible condition.

The sinks were clogged, shower stalls were dirty, and there was trash in the drain.

In the same post, Liew wrote, "Yes, the toilets were horrible. There were days where water supply was cut off, people started to use bottled water to do some basic cleaning in the toilet, empty bottles were not thrown away in the right place after use."

He also added that used soap bars and cigarette butts were left on the floor. Meanwhile, sinks and toilet bowls were clogged.

In total, the men spent about two hours cleaning the toilet.

Image via Jimmy Chin (Facebook)

Image via Jimmy Chin (Facebook)

Image via Jimmy Chin (Facebook)

They then asked health officials on duty if there was no one around in charge of the cleaning.

To their surprise, the health officials said they would do the cleaning themselves when there aren't too many patients to attend to.

Liew expressed his disappointment by saying, "The Ministry of Health (MOH) workers have to take care of a ward that is almost full with over 100 patients. They need to send food, pack the laundry, monitor patients' health, and with the situation where there is lack of manpower, is it right to blame that they do not clean the toilet as well? They are human and they will feel tired as well, won't they?"

Authorities have since addressed the issue and the patients said that health officials have moved in to clean up the toilets

According to The Star, Sabah Health Department director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi assured that the matter would be resolved.

Jimmy Chin shared an update saying thank you to MOH for taking swift action to clean the toilets.

"I hope you will continue to keep it clean like this in the future," he wrote.

Remember to #JustStayAtHome. Watch the latest update on the COVID-19 situation:

Meanwhile, a COVID-19 patient has taken to Twitter to share his positive experience of being quarantined at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) centre in Selangor:

But a British national who tested positive for COVID-19 and is under quarantine at the same centre has deemed the place unhygienic and unacceptable for her recovery:

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