Health director-general, Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah revealed on Sunday (May 16th) that the number of COVID-19 ICU beds in use has reached over 100%.
Photo via Facebook (Noor Hisham Abdullah)
And right now, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is in the midst of preparing a field intensive care unit (ICU) supplied by the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) to combat the rapidly increasing number of critical COVID-19 cases, especially in Penang.
In his Facebook post, DG Hisham said there is an urgent need to implement field ICUs devoted to treating critical patients at the Kepala Batas Hospital.
His caption reads: “The ministry also found that patient admissions into the ICUs in Penang have increased by more than 45% over the past two weeks and that this trend is expected to continue especially when there are new clusters involving old folks homes and others.”
According to Malay Mail, DG Hisham also managed to make an official visit to the Tuanku Mizan Army Hospital for a dry run of the field ICU with delegates from MOH’s medical and engineering services divisions also present.
Meanwhile, Sarawak State Health director, Dr. Chin Zin Hing revealed on Monday (May 17th) that the intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Sarawak’s public hospitals are now at 100% capacity as well, as reported by the Malay Mail.
He also pleaded with Sarawakians to play their part to stop the spread of the COVID-19 infections by staying at home, he said in a statement.
The statement reads: “Our ICU beds are over-run or in other words, full across Sarawak. The doctors are working very hard every day to turn over the ventilator or ICU beds so that the next patient that needs it can benefit from it. No amount of ventilators will be sufficient.”
He said cooperation from the people is important in reducing the spread of the virus, especially by adhering to the SOPs during the Movement Control Order (MCO).
He also reminded the public to stay home as much as possible and only to go out if needed but to only do so in compliance with the SOPs.
Stay at home and stay safe, everyone!
By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat
