Respect PKU staff, our frontliners

Facing of the outbreak of the Covid-19 that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Health (PKU), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) is always on alert to fight the spread of the outbreak in both university campuses.

Even during the university's new student registration session on February 7, the PKU was ready for any possibility.

At the time, the university had asked students who returned from the semester or just returned from China to undergo local health screening before continuing their activities on campus as the outbreak of Wuhan, China late last year caused many people to become infected and death rates increased due to the virus since January.

According to the Director of PKU, Dr. Khairul Salleh Abdul Basit, since then the university has set up a UMP Disaster Management Committee to coordinate all actions to deal with the outbreak.

We are working closely with the District Health Office (PKD) and the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) to update the latest information and guidelines to control the spread of Covid-19 cases at UMP.

"We will ensure that any students or staff with symptoms of Covid-19 or new arrivals from abroad will be asked to conduct home-surveillance within 14 days and notify PKD if further action is required," he said.

Dr. Khairul also appreciates the continued support from the Student Affairs and Alumni Department, Security Division, and the Center for Development and Property Management in the success of the program, especially in dealing with student welfare.

He also has good cooperation from the UMP Disaster Management Committee and works closely with the PKD including assisting in contact detection if it involves students or university staff.

In line with the movement control order by the government, the PKU has implemented a staff rotation system for both campuses to minimize movement throughout the control period.

According to Dr. Khairul, they also provide health care services and operates as usual for outpatient treatment from Monday to Friday from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm as there are a handful of students attending the MCO in the campus.

“For emergency cases outside of office hours, students or staff may contact the staff on duty at the PKU.”

“They are also taking the initiative to provide face shields using readily available items as these ready-to-wear equipment are not available in the market.

"They are also provided with Personal Protective Equipment such as dresses, 3 ply masks and gloves to carry out their work as frontliners of the university," he said.

UMP citizens are also reminded to always obey the government's instructions and to keep themselves clean. For those with symptoms, they are asked to be selfless and always wear a face mask when in public.

The Security Division is also provided with a body temperature scanner to check the health of campus citizens and visitors at the UMP entrance.

As well as students on campus, daily body temperature checks will be taken at the College Residentials to ensure that they are always healthy and as a precautionary measure.

He advised the campus citizens to stay at home or on campus and obey the Movement Control Orders (MCO).

For any concerns, please contact the PKU staff at 09-424 5777 (Pekan Campus) and 09-549 3111 (Gambang Campus).

Translation by: Aminatul Nor Mohamed Said, Faculty Of Computing