SG Buloh Hospital infectious disease consultant Dr Suresh Kumar Chidambaram used to dread the days when he had to treat patients with severe dengue, but that was before the Covid-19 pandemic. 

After more than a year leading the charge against the coronavirus at the hospital, he wants to go back to the days when treating HIV, tuberculosis and dengue were his biggest problems.

“As infectious disease physicians, the biggest infections we used to manage before Covid-19 were HIV, tuberculosis and dengue. These are three big diseases that I used to manage. 

“We still manage HIV and TB as outpatient cases. We don’t manage them as inpatients, but we still have the clinics that we run.

“I miss those diseases now. I’m losing my touch managing those diseases,” he half-joked with weariness.

Suresh said his daily routine and workload prior to the pandemic, and now with Covid-19, are totally different. 

“Covid-19 has, in a way, made the other infectious diseases (look like a walk in the park) because with Covid-19, there is no textbook to go to. We’re having to write that textbook,” he told The Malaysian Insight in an interview. 

When he became a medical student, Suresh said he never imagined he would be at the front-lines of a pandemic.  

“But when I became an infectious disease physician, of course, that’s what we’re trained for.

“Not for a pandemic of this scale but we were prepared to manage novel outbreaks.”

As a whole, Suresh said healthcare professionals have learnt a lot from managing Covid-19. 

“We have learnt new habits, we have learned to work together as a team and we are doing a lot more research on the job. 

“We’re looking at the diseases with a more analytical eye because last time we just used to take guidelines and apply them, we are now analysing them better.  

“We have used digital technology more and we are using tele-health in our clinics a lot more. Many times we manage patients through the phone rather than face to face,” he said. 

Suresh’s family members have been supportive of him treating Covid-19 patients, but there were also moments of fear in the past year. 

“Knowing that I’m an infectious disease physician, they realise it is part of my job and they were by and large very supportive.” 

His own children are not interested in becoming doctors like him, but Suresh believes the profession may have become more attractive to others because of the pandemic. 

“My children have never liked the hours that I work, even before Covid-19. 

“But while there are other issues with regard to medicine that can sway people’s decision to become a doctor, I feel Covid-19 would have made the profession more popular. 

“If at all, the value of healthcare workers in society has increased. Covid-19 should make more people want to be healthcare professionals,” he said. 

Suresh was of the view Malaysia has quite successfully managed and treated Covid-19 cases in the country. Daily infections have come down since the second week of March and now hover between 1,000 and around 1,500. 

On March 18 last year, the government implemented the movement-control order to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections in the country. A second MCO was implemented in January this year when cases in the country surpassed 2,000 a day and the healthcare system was on the verge of buckling. 

Currently, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Kelantan, Penang and Sarawak are still under the conditional MCO, while an interstate travel restriction is in force. 

Despite Malaysia’s success in controlling the pandemic, Suresh said the fight is still not over. 

“No, the story is not over yet. We still want to end it. 

“We are still looking for better drugs and we’re still doing clinical studies on drugs on how to better use them. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done,” he said. 

He is optimistic that the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, which started on February 24 and the second phase set to begin on April 19 will help things move along. 

“The vaccination programme helps and I think our work will become a lot easier if they come in droves and get themselves vaccinated. 

“Doctors can move forward to look at other diseases if people get vaccinated.” – April 13, 2021.