The Wilful Sunflower

I am so angry.

Remember my friend's cousin, the one I mentioned yesterday? Well, I received an email with more details.

He was suffering from 'flu symptoms, so his family sent him to their local hospital in Perak (one of our northern states) for a SARS checkup. Guess what the hospital did? They immediately put him in quarantine with actual SARS patients!

Not surprisingly, his conditioned worsened and he began exhibiting more SARS symptoms, and was transferred to a hospital in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

My friend wrote,

Derek is now detained in a room with 4 walls, without any windows. He has no form of entertainment, no TV's to watch, to reading materials... he can't even take his bath or change his clothes, because he's isolated and medical staff minimalise their visits. I think he's very much like a prisoner there, except in prison, things are better. You still have some form of contact with other inmates.

This sort of incompetent bungling makes me very angry because the consequences could have been avoided. It should not have happened! Arrgh!

Screenshots has more pithy things to say about the government's handling of the situation and the media's complicity.

Meanwhile, the numbers continue to rise, with 9 new suspected cases yesterday, bringing it to a total of 99 suspected cases. Of these, 32 people are in isolation wards.

Worldwide, WHO reports a total of 2671 SARS cases so far, with 103 deaths, spread over 17 countries.