She has even viewed it as a “fardhu kifayah” (compulsory communal obligation) that she is required to perform.
Despite calls from her own family members to quit, Faizah, 40, continues to do this noble task, fully aware of the reality and the huge risks that she faces daily.
“Sometimes, I have to manage five or six bodies a day. The most that I have managed thus far is 18 patients in a day.
“Prior to this, I handled HIV patients, but I think managing Covid patients is an extra struggle for me. Furthermore, most of them are Category 5 (critical condition) patients.
“At first, my family members disallowed me from continuing to do this job.
“But I told them that if I did not come forward to help handle the female patients, who else would do it?” she said when met by Bernama at the forensic medicine department, Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA), here recently.
The mother of five said that over time, her family members understood and supported her need to fulfil her role and responsibility in handling the remains of Covid-19 patients the best she could.
She said she would always be ready to be called to perform the task entrusted to her as there would be deaths anytime daily due to the virus.
“I have to wear personal protective equipment (PPE), and the hospital staff will check carefully whether there is any leak or not. I have to always be healthy and fit to manage the bodies,” she said.
Faizah is among those appointed by the Johor Islamic religious department to carry out the role.
She has received direct training from the health ministry (at HSA’s forensic medicine department) as a special officer for Covid-19 funeral management (females). This includes bathing, shrouding, prayers and burial.
Apart from the HSA, she has also been carrying out a similar task for Covid-19 patients at the Sultan Ismail Hospital here since March last year.
Experienced in managing the remains of Muslim women for the past 16 years, Faizah said she was sad when family members of the Covid-19 victims were unable to see the faces of their loved ones for the last time.
She said not only could they not see the victim’s face for the last time, they also had to put their full trust in the funeral management staff to complete the funeral of their loved ones.
“What is really sad is when the next of kin plead with us to allow more than two people to see the bodies (during identification). We just can’t allow it as we have to adhere to the SOPs,” said Faizah, who was a teacher from 1999 to 2004.
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