Covid-19: Ministry prepares for the worst, 33 hospitals ready with over 3,000 beds

CORONAVIRUS | The Health Ministry is preparing for a worst-case scenario in facing Covid-19 while still hoping for the best, said Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He revealed that they have designated a total of 33 hospitals nationwide, including seven university hospitals, to treat Covid-19 patients.

In total, according to him, there are over 3,000 hospital beds at normal wards and intensive care units ready for the worst-case scenario.

Noor Hisham (photo) said with the preparations they hope to break the chain of infection and reduce the number of positive cases.

"We have identified 26 hospitals, plus seven university hospitals, and, hopefully, they can manage and have beds for Covid-19 patients, as well as ICU beds for them," he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

"In doing this, we have postponed elective operations (at the hospitals), and referred patients from Covid-19 hospitals to non-Covid hospitals, and some to the private sector (healthcare facilities) as well.

"By doing so, we free our beds. For example, at Sungai Buloh Hospital, we managed to create 1,350 beds." 

Noor Hisham said the ministry is also utilising nurses quarters at the hospitals to serve as temporary wards for stable Covid-19 patients so that the normal wards can be reserved for those who need urgent and critical medical attention.

In case there is a need for more hospital beds, he said the ministry is ready to convert its training institutes into hospital wards.

"We cannot build a hospital in 10 days, but we can convert the training institutions to wards. By doing so we can create more beds," he said.

In terms of manpower, Noor Hisham said they are redelegating healthcare workers to busy facilities that need more staff to handle Covid-19 cases, like the Sungai Buloh Hospital.

The ministry is also in the process of recruiting retired doctors and nurses to return to service during the period they are facing the pandemic.

Noor Hisham said that while they are ready for the situation to turn worse, they are not giving up from preventing the situation from turning on its head.

"We still have to prevent the exponential spike of cases by doing this movement control order, which is to reduce infection and transmission of the virus, and, thus, fewer patients infected," he said.

'Let's not come to the stage of having to choose who can use equipment'

Noor Hisham said they are hoping to prevent a surge in the number of cases, which could lead to healthcare facilities being overwhelmed.

By then, it could come to a stage where doctors would have to choose which patient to be given the priority in terms of medical equipment.

"Today, there are 64 patients in ICU, which 27 patients on ventilators. If we treat them well, they can recover in time.

"The worry is if there were a surge, then we have to choose which patient has the privilege (to use ventilators).

"We hope we won't come to that stage."

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said the ministry is increasing the capacity of its laboratories.

They are expecting to be able to conduct up to 16,000 tests a day in the next couple of weeks.

By having this capacity, he stressed, they are hoping to be able to detect more positive cases and take the patients for isolation as soon as possible. - Mkini