Urology services in a tertiary hospital: continuing work during the COVID-19 Movement Control Order in Malaysia

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, also known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has spread rapidly around the globe like bush fire. This outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020. It is an unprecedented global health crisis, a century after the great influenza pandemic (Spanish Flu) occurred in 1918. China reported the first four COVID-19 cases on 29 December 2019. The virus soon spread to Southeast Asia, and Malaysia reported the first confirmed case on 25 January 2020. The number of reported positive cases surged by 16 March, the cause of which was linked to a religious assembly at Sri Petaling (a suburb of Kuala Lumpur) held from 27 February to 3 March. To prevent worsening of the outbreak, the Malaysian government implemented a nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO) effective from 18 March 2020 to 30 March 2020.[1] As the number of cases continued to increase with occasional plateauing, MCO was further extended to Phase 2 (1–14 April 2020), Phase 3 (15–28 April 2020) and Phase 4 (from 29 April 2020 to 12 May 2020). On 4 May 2020, the government implemented conditional MCO (CMCO), and regulations were relaxed with the aim of reopening Malaysia’s economy as the number of new COVID-19 cases dropped. Businesses slowly resumed their operations under strict regulations and standard operating procedures (SOP). During Phase 5 of the CMCO (12 May 2020 to 9 June 2020), most of the business sectors were allowed to open for business and people were allowed to move more freely within the state.[2] At the start of the MCO, public hospitals in Malaysia implemented changes at all levels to conserve our limited resources and manpower for the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic while reducing the number of patients visiting the hospital. Elective surgeries were cancelled, outpatient clinics were postponed, and various infection control measures were implemented. By the end of Phase 4, the outbreak appeared to be under control and healthcare institutions slowly returned to their normal activities. In this study, we aimed to describe the changes in clinical activities, including admissions, outpatient consultations and surgical procedures, in a urology centre in southern Selangor state.

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