As Malaysia embarked on the Movement Control Order (MCO) in mid-March, some Malaysians flocked to Singapore to ‘wait it out’ until restrictions were lifted.
With the easing of some restrictions recently, a Malaysian mother decided to return home with her 9-month-old daughter, crossing the Causeway on foot.
The mother documented the journey back and shared the video on her YouTube channel named Sheringwee. You can watch it in full here.
The video starts off in a light-hearted manner with familiar sights of the Woodlands Checkpoint looking eerily empty at around 7am.
After making their way past the Singapore customs, the pair walked across the Causeway on foot.
Half an hour later, the pair arrived at the JB customs where long lines comprising people registering for swab test were seen.
After registration, the mother-daughter duo departed for the test centre at about 10.30am.
The pair arrived at the test centre an hour later and underwent the swab test at around 12pm.
They were then instructed to wait in a bus before being sent to a waiting centre — a facility with seats spaced out for those awaiting their test results.
The duo then endured a 3-hour wait at the facility. Fatigue was etched on their faces by then and Sheringwee hugged her young child as she succumbed to a short nap.
At about 3pm, the mother was startled awake by the sound of her daughter’s name being called and the pair were subsequently led outside the waiting centre.
However, the initial relief that flooded her thinking they could finally return home quickly dissipated. There, the mother received alarming news — while she tested negative for the virus, her 9-month-old daughter tested positive.
They were immediately picked up by an ambulance and sent to a hospital.
Source
In the concluding minutes of the video, the mother was overwhelmed with emotion as she documents the 5th day of her baby’s hospitalisation. In tears and evidently tired, she exclaims that she misses her normal life.
On Sunday (5 Jul), Sheringwee updated in the comments that her daughter had tested negative for the virus for a second time.
She revealed that the child was asymptomatic throughout and the people who were in contact with her daughter also had 2 negative swab tests.
We all believe this is a misdiagnosis
Everyone who came into contact with the baby tested negative twice
Source
The mother also suspects that a misdiagnosis had happened during the first swab test.
While the positive test results coupled with the arduous journey on foot must’ve been pretty distressing, we’re nonetheless glad that the story has a happy ending.
If her suspicion of there being a misdiagnosis were correct, we do hope the Malaysian government would look into the matter to prevent any such cases in the future.
What do you think of their experience? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
Featured image adapted from YouTube.
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