KUALA LUMPUR (May 22): Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said he will be spending the first day of Aidilfitri with front line workers at the hospital.

Dr Noor Hisham, who earned global fame for handling the Covid-19 crisis in Malaysia efficiently, said being on-duty during Aidilfitri has been an annual routine for him. 

"Normally, I would join other medical staff on-duty at the hospital after performing the Aidilfitri prayers. This year will be no different," except that the prayers will be done at home, instead of at the mosque," the 57-year-old Chinese Muslim said.

He was responding to a reporter's question on the matter during his daily press briefing in Putrajaya on the Covid-19 situation.

On May 9, Dr Noor Hisham took his first day off in nearly two months, after working without a single break since December 2019, to help coordinate the health ministry’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Last month, China's state-owned media organisation China Global TV Network (CGTN) named Dr Noor Hisham as among the world’s top three doctors in the fight againt Covid-19. 

CGTN named him alongside Dr Anthony Fauci of the United States and New Zealand’s Dr Ashley Bloomfield as men who kept calm and were clear in doling out advice devoid of politics for weeks, gaining a loyal following in the process.

The three were commended for weeks of calm, clear-headedness, besides being trustworthy sources of facts and information for their nation during the crisis.

Dr Noor Hisham has held the health director-general position since 2013 and continues to work on the side as a senior consultant breast and endocrine surgeon at Putrajaya Hospital.

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