Sains Malaysiana 50(4)(2021): 1165-1173

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2021-5004-26

Managing COVID-19 Pandemic in Teaching Hospitals: An Early Preparedness Setting

(Pengurusan Pandemik COVID-19 di Hospital Pengajar: Suatu Penetapan Persediaan Awal)

AZMAWATI MOHAMMED NAWI¹, AZIMATUN NOOR AIZUDDIN¹, ROZITA HOD¹, NORFAZILAH AHMAD¹, FAIZ DAUD¹, SHARIFAH AZURA SALLEH², NAJMA KORI³, PETRICK PERIYASAMY³, MOHD ROHAIZAT HASSAN¹*, HANAFIAH HARUNARASHID⁴, KAMARUZAMAN JUSOFF⁵& MOHD AFIQ ARIFIN⁶

¹Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras 56000, Federal Territory, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

²Infection Control Unit, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000 Cheras, Federal Territory, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

³Department of Medicine, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000 Cheras, Federal Territory, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

⁴Director, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000 Cheras, Federal Territory, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

⁵Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

⁶Pharmaceutical Services Division, Kelantan State Health Department, 15590 Kota Bharu, Kelantan Darul Naim, Malaysia

Received: 19 November 2020/Accepted: 5 February 2021

ABSTRACT

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the 2019-20 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak a pandemic on 11th of March 2020. The Ministry of Health, Malaysia has made preparations for the involvement of all government hospitals, including some teaching hospitals. This report elaborates and discusses the early establishment of the Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (HCTM CPRC), highlighting how teaching hospitals function in handling the clinical and epidemiological management of COVID-19 among hospital staff. The setting comprises of four critical functions of the HCTM CPRC, namely case investigation, close contact tracing, surveillance for data reporting and risk communication. This report highlighted that a CPRC in teaching hospitals benefits not only the patients and the hospital administration but also all hospital staff, especially in managing COVID-19 pandemic emergency crisis.

Keywords: COVID-19; CPRC; Malaysia; preparedness; teaching hospital

ABSTRAK

Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) telah mengumumkan penularan 2019-20 novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) sebagai suatu pandemik pada 11 Mac 2020. Sehubungan itu, pihak Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) telah mula membuat segala persiapan melibatkan hospital kerajaan termasuk hospital Institut Pengajian Tinggi (IPT). Laporan ini memperinci dan membincangkan berkenaan penubuhan Pusat Kesiapsiagaan dan Tindak Cepas Krisis, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz  (HCTM CPRC) serta menerangkan fungsi hospital pengajar dalam menangani isu klinikal dan epidemiologi COVID-19 di kalangan anggota hospital. Penubuhan HCTM CPRC terdiri dari empat fungsi penting iaitu siasatan kes, pengesanan kontak rapat, survelans dan komunikasi risiko. Kertas ini mengetengahkan kepentingan untuk mewujudkan CPRC di dalam sebuah hospital IPT dan ia bukan sekadar penting untuk pesakit malah kepada semua anggota hospital terutamanya yang terlibat dalam pengurusan krisis COVID-19.

Kata kunci: COVID-19; CPRC; hospital pengajar; kesediaan; Malaysia

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*Corresponding author; email: rohaizat@ppukm.ukm.edu.my