TEMERLOH: Workers from an apparel printing outlet here certainly know how to keep themselves occupied during the Movement Control Order (MCO).
They have decided to volunteer to prepare personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical frontliners at the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Hospital (Hoshas) near here.
The four workers aged between 24 and 29 years old have been cutting and sewing woven fabric to prepare hand, and foot protection gear for medical frontliners.
One of the volunteers Mohd Khairul Azrin Holed said a friend informed him that the hospital was experiencing a shortage of hand and foot protection gear, and asked if they could assist.
"Due to the high use of PPEs at the hospital, it could not accommodate the need to sew and prepare the equipment. So a friend asked if we could help and since our outlet was closed due to the MCO, we decided to assist from home.
"The hospital provided us with the materials and sample and we cut and sew them together to be used by the medical staff," he said when contacted today.
The 26-year-old said his team would cut the blue-woven fabric materials, measure according to the size provided by the hospital, include the elastic rubber band at certain parts of the material (for grip purposes) and sew them.
"The hospital representative provided us with 500 pieces of fabric two days ago and we divided the material between the four of us. We work separately before a hospital representative collects the completed ones and restocks the materials," he said.
Khairul Azrin said since their outlet "Temerloh Printing" focuses on designing and printing clothing, they do not face much problems completing the task as they know how to get the job done.
"We know the process to ensure the job is done neatly and within a short time. In the past we used to sew and sell face masks at RM5 each....now we are occupied with completing the hospital's protection gear," he said, adding that they were merely playing a small role in helping the frontliners to battle the Covid-19 outbreak.
Hoshas and Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan are the two main hospitals in Pahang chosen to treat Covid-19 patients.