Doctors forced to choose who gets ICU beds, says DG

 

Hospitals are struggling to cope with the spike in Covid-19 cases as ICU wards are already at maximum capacity. (Noor Hisham Abdullah Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Doctors are forced to prioritise Covid-19 patients with a higher chance at recovery due to the strain placed on the health system caused by the steep spike in cases.

In a tweet last night, which came after a record 98 deaths, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this is the sad reality that many hospitals are facing now.

“When active cases of Covid-19 exceed our ability to treat, then doctors have to make the difficult choice to prioritise ICU beds for patients with a high recovery potential over patients with low recovery potential (poor prognosis).”

In a separate tweet, he emphasised the rapidly increasing number of deaths caused by the virus.

“98 deaths today, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths to 2,650. 471 deaths occurred in 2020, and 2,179 deaths in 2021.

“In the period from May 1-29 this year alone, a total of 1,144 deaths were reported, the highest number of monthly deaths so far.”

The record of daily Covid-19 cases had also been broken for five consecutive days, with 9,020 reported yesterday.

Similarly, the 98 deaths yesterday shattered the previous record of 63, set just three days earlier on May 26. - FMT