The Health Ministry is looking to add about 1,000 intensive care beds in the coming weeks to cope with the rising number of severe Covid-19 cases.
Its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said a surge in cases is likely in late-May to mid-June. If this happens, ICU demand is expected to rise to over 1,700 beds.
The ministry currently has 734 ICU beds nationwide, over 500 of which are already being used.
“We are looking into how we can increase ICU beds, equipment for providing respiratory support, and so on.
“So, this (movement control order) will give the Health Ministry time to take steps to ensure that we can support patients who come to the hospital when cases surge,” he told a joint press conference with Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.
His statement comes as ICU admissions for Covid-19 reach an all-time high. Last week, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said a larger proportion of Covid-19 patients are turning up with severe symptoms.
The patient profile of severe Covid-19 cases requiring ICU admission is also younger than before and is becoming harder to treat with drugs that worked well in previous cases.
Sporadic cases on the rise
Both Noor Hisham and Adham attribute this partly to the emergence of new Covid-19 variants in the country.
“That is the challenge we see today. Our hospitals are already full especially ICU wards in Klang Valley, and now, we find the (B.1.351 variant) has spread to most states such as Kelantan, Perak, Kedah, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan.
“That is our worry. Perhaps it has already spread to other states but we’re not sure. However, we are conducting random tests to identify those variants,” Noor Hisham said.
He added that sporadic cases now account for 80 percent of all Covid-19 cases, compared to 60 percent announced by Adham two weeks ago for the period from Jan 1 to April 25.
Sporadic cases refer to Covid-19 cases where the source of infection is not known. - Mkini
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