Malaysian company helps by making free personal protective equipment boxes for Covid-19 treatment
KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — Since the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO) on March 18 due to Covid-19, businessman Simon Yap had been thinking about how he could help out.
The opportunity presented itself when Yap’s business partner, Henry Low, got diagrams to fabricate the aerosol box, which is a protective layer for doctors and nurses to use when they need to intubate patients.
“When Low asked would I be interested to help, I agreed to it immediately,” said the 49-year-old.
Yap’s shop in Kepong was turned into a processing line to produce the boxes on Wednesday and Thursday.
He was, however, forced to stop on Friday as he ran out of materials to make the boxes but he promised production would be back on track next week when the raw materials arrive.
In total, Yap managed to produce 33 of the boxes, which was picked up by Hospital Selayang staff on Friday.
“They came in an ambulance to pick up the boxes and to date, it has been distributed to hospitals around the Klang Valley,” he added.
To make the boxes, Yap, who is the managing director of a company that produces outdoor billboards and indoor signages, said he roped in some of his employees to help.
“They jumped at the idea to help. One of them had to travel from Gombak and was stopped by police several times,” he said.
Asked if he was offered payment or token by the authorities to produce the boxes, Yap said:
“No. Even if I was offered, I would decline. I want to do my part to help Malaysia. I hope all Malaysians will be healthy and the MCO is lifted.”
Besides the aerosol box, doctors and nurses also use Individual Patient Isolation Systems (Isopods) to treat patients who have contracted an infectious virus.
With the current Covid-19 outbreak, the equipment is in short supply with isopods being priced at around RM30,000, which is too expensive for most hospitals to purchase in bulk.
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