Dr Dzulkefly Announces Recovery Of 2 More COVID-19 Patients In Emotional Last Tweet
"This is my last tweet as the Health Minister. Thank you."
By May Vin Ang — 24 Feb 2020, 05:32 PM
Two more coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients have fully recovered, announced Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad today, 24 February, in what he claimed was his last tweet as Health Minister
"The Ministry of Health (MOH) wishes to inform that two more cases have fully recovered and are allowed to go home today," he said in a press release on Twitter.
No new cases have been reported, he added, pointing out that the cumulated number of positive COVID-19 cases in the country has stayed a consistent of 22 people since 24 January.
The Health Minister said the two patients who recovered are women from China and had received treatment in Hospital Kuala Lumpur
One was a 37-year-old who was declared coronavirus positive on 5 February, while the other was a 38-year-old who was admitted on 12 February.
"This brings the total of recovered COVID-19 cases (in Malaysia) to 20 with two people still being treated in the wards and are in stable condition," wrote Dr Dzulkefly.
He ended his post with a farewell as a member of the government, saying, "This is my last tweet as the Health Minister. Thank you."
The first patient to recover in Malaysia from COVID-19 was a young girl from Guangdong, China.
Image via Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia/FacebookTwitter has been overcome with emotion at Dr Dzulkefly's goodbye - thousands swarmed to his tweet to reply and thank him for his exemplary service
As of writing, the post has been retweeted over 20,000 times.
"The last line is indeed very sad news. Thank you so much for your support to all of us in MOH. You have done such an excellent job," said Twitter user @rafidah72, who is also a nephrologist working with the MOH.
"This is sad. We'll miss Dr Dzulkefly as the Health Minister. Hands down one of the best performing ministers in this short-lived cabinet," said this netizen.
"MOH's handling of COVID-19 will be his legacy - Dr Dzul can leave with his head held high."
Another user hoped that he will be reinstated, saying, "Thank you YB. We hope you will remain in power after this and regardless, you will always be remembered as the best Health Minister we ever had."
It cannot be denied that Dr Dzulkefly has made many reformations and improvements to the country's health sector in just two short years as a Cabinet minister
According to Facebook page Public Health Malaysia, Dr Dzulkefly has championed these issues in the past two years of service:
- The introduction of no-smoking areas at restaurants,
- Addition of healthcare staff in the public sector,
- Increase of the MOH budget for better healthcare services,
- The introduction of free pneumococcal vaccines in the National Immunisation Schedule,
- Cancelling the abolishment of critical allowance, and
- Receiving some of the best ratings in the world for the control of the COVID-19 outbreak.
