The second half of October was filled with an unprecedented challenge; there was a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in our country, amassing over a thousand daily cases. The state of Sabah was the worst affected, with our Director General of Health, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah noting that the “battle against COVID-19 for front liners in Sabah is now at a critical moment”. 
IMU Cares had communicated with various personnel at the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) and healthcare personnel on the frontlines at the Sabah State Health Department (JKNS) in order to understand the situation there properly. Late stage COVID patients (Stages 3, 4 & 5) were filling up hospital beds, High Dependency Units (HDU) were being expanded in various districts and manpower, machines and personal protective equipment (PPE), especially N95 masks, were lacking.
With this new information, IMU stepped up to help. In collaboration with IMU Cares and IMU Alumni Office as well as with the guidance of the IMU Crisis Management Team, IMU collectively donated a total of 5560 pieces of N95 masks worth RM50,000 to the front-liners battling COVID-19 in Sabah via the JKNS. Delivery of the masks to Sabah was possible with the aid of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM).
We once again applaud the valiant efforts of our front-liners in Sabah and all over Malaysia in fighting the pandemic. Let us all do our part by practicing good hygiene, social distancing and adhering to the guidelines set by our Health Ministry. Together, we can flatten the curve again!
