KUALA LUMPUR: Medical frontliners battling the Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia are continuing to receive support from public and corporate organisations.
The most recent company to lend a helping hand is Tune Hotels, which has opened the doors of its Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) branch to medical workers at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital (HKL). The hospital’s medical staff can now check in to the hotel for an overnight stay after their long shifts.
The initiative was launched by the ECM Libra Foundation, with the support of hotelier Ormond Group, after it learned that healthcare workers dealing with the Covid-19 crisis are resorting to sleeping in hospital corridors after long shifts, as they have nowhere else to go, before reporting for duty once again.
All 130 rooms at Tunes Hotel PWTC, which is near HKL, will now be offered to HKL medical staff, who will also be provided with complimentary breakfasts.
ECM Libra Foundation Board of Trustees chairman Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan said that the foundation has pledged to do as much as possible for those worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular, the under privileged and the nation’s health care workers on the frontlines.
“Frontline workers have shown selfless commitment and risk their lives daily for Malaysians.
“We will never be able to express our gratitude enough. We just wish we could do more,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The free accommodation offer begins today, March 24, and will last for 30 days. If the Covid-19 pandemic does not abate after the offer expires, the foundation will review the situation in consultation with HKL.
Meanwhile, the foundation has also committed RM500,000 in contribution to the local English media house fund (The Edge Covid-19 Equipment Fund) to purchase ventilators, protective suits, and masks.
The fund was recently set up to collect money from Malaysian corporations and business leaders to support the fight against the Covid-19 health crisis.
As of March 23, Malaysia’s Covid-19 toll stands at 1,518 infections and 14 deaths.