DISINFECTION services offered by political parties are in high demand lately following requests from individuals tested positive for Covid-19 to disinfect their homes and offices.

However, the increase in the number of infections has led to some volunteers contracting the virus. This has also impacted the team as they would be short-handed and have to do more in the absence of others.

The increase in disinfection services has also resulted in a shortage in supplies for some of these volunteers, especially the very important full personal protective equipment (PPE).

Natalie Lim, head of MCA’s Crisis Relief Squad, said when the pandemic was still under control, many people did not seek their help.

“Previously, when we offered disinfection services, people felt it was not necessary because things were under control.

“But now, with many places such as schools, malls and public spaces reporting cases, many people are contacting us to help them disinfect their premises.”

According to data from MCA, its team of volunteers has disinfected 290 premises in Selangor, Perak, Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Johor since the beginning of this year.

Lim said of the 290 premises they had disinfected, 142 were schools which had benefited more than 55,000 teachers and students.

They also conducted 153 community disinfections, 122 of which were in Johor.

Requests have doubled

Kota Melaka lawmaker Khoo Poay Tiong and Balakong assemblywoman Wong Siew Ki, meanwhile, said the request for disinfection team’s services have doubled lately.

Khoo said the volunteers in his constituency would disinfect homes based on a list given by the Ministry of Health (MOH) after the Covid-19 positive patients and their families are placed at quarantine centres.

“When the pandemic worsened, there were up to 20 to 30 families who needed our disinfection services. So, we will contact them and go to their homes for disinfection.”

He said on May 9, his team had to go to 30 to 40 houses to provide disinfection services.

“We had to split into two teams, so we could disinfect more places. In the morning, we followed the list provided by MOH and went to Kg Baru Machap to help local councillors disinfect the homes of 20 families.”

He added that the number of families who needed assistance disinfecting their homes has been rising each week since the pandemic worsened.

“When it wasn’t this bad, maybe there were six to eight houses each day, but now we will get requests from 10 to 14 families daily.”

Meanwhile, Wong said the number of requests for disinfection services have doubled since the movement control order (MCO) was lifted earlier this year.

“My team is now divided into three, one team works during the day while the other two work at night. We accommodate everyone’s working hours so more places can be disinfected.”

Volunteers contracting Covid-19

Wong said when some of the volunteers in the disinfection team also caught Covid-19, it impacted the number of people in each team.

“When some of them got Covid-19, they had to stop volunteering and we had to continue our disinfection services with whoever we had.”

She said when one member in the team had Covid-19, the rest will be considered close contact and need to be isolated, meaning the other teams will have to pick up the slack.

If the team works from day to night, they are able to disinfect 10 factories or 20 houses.

Lim said the MCA’s disinfection team also faced similar problems but said they will not stop their services. Instead, she reminded all the volunteers to be safe and protect themselves properly.

She said the group does not stop disinfecting services when a member of the team gets Covid-19.

At the moment, Lim said there are 150 volunteers in the MCA disinfection teams who help out nationwide. They are not facing a manpower shortage like the others.

Need training

Khoo said the volunteers need training from MOH to better protect themselves while helping others.

“Typically, we have five people in each team, but with the worsening situation we need more manpower. While we want to increase manpower, we also want to ensure that they get the proper training before going out there.

“Due to the shortage of volunteers, the same group has to disinfect eight to 12 places in a row.”

He added that his team was also facing a shortage in supplies as they need to wear full PPE before going inside the homes of infected persons.

Wong added that there have been shortages but they were able to continue their work with help from the public.

“Businesses and manufacturers are supporting us, so we are doing fine. Some individuals will also donate to us for us to continue our service.”

Lim said the MCA’s volunteer group has received a lot of sponsorship so they have not faced a shortage in supplies.

MCA has so far received a RM750,000 donation in the form of PPE, a RM830,000 supply of disinfectants as well as masks and testing equipment from private donors.

As of yesterday, 4,140 Covid-19 cases were recorded nationwide, taking the total number of cumulative cases to 466,330.

A record-high 44 new deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 1,866. – May 16, 2021.