KOTA KINABALU – Healthcare workers are racing to contain Covid-19 in Sabah, whose hospitals and quarantine centres are beginning to be overwhelmed with patients.
Currently, there are 25 quarantine centres statewide.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 277 of yesterday’s 374 new coronavirus infections are in Sabah, which has 2,380 active cases so far.
In Beluran, a non-governmental organisation told The Vibes that a multipurpose hall will be used as a Covid-19 treatment centre if Sandakan’s Duchess of Kent Hospital reaches full capacity.
“We are in the midst of building an isolation ward to help cope with the growing number of patients at the Beluran hospital,” said the group’s leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Most of the district’s Covid-19 cases are referred to Duchess of Kent Hospital, located 85km away.
Sandakan saw 48 new infections, bringing its total to 202.
The Vibes earlier reported that some patients are forced to stay at the Duchess of Kent Hospital waiting area until beds are available.
The local government has opened up the Sandakan sports complex’s badminton hall to accommodate the rapidly growing number of patients.
When the Beluran treatment centre is ready by next week, it will provide another 200 beds.
In Tawau, the military will open a field hospital for non-coronavirus patients to ease the burden on the district’s health facility.
The district has recorded 969 cases so far, with 590 of them categorised as active.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the armed forces have agreed to activate the makeshift hospital, which has some 100 beds, along with eight medical officers and 54 personnel, including a commander and five specialist doctors.
In Kota Kinabalu, the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise as most of the patients from Penampang, Tuaran and other nearby districts are referred to Queen Elizabeth Hospitals I and II.
Both facilities are already operating at capacity, and health authorities are expected to convert the Likas indoor stadium into a treatment centre soon.
Two nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital II intensive care unit have tested positive for the virus, resulting in 40 of the facility’s 66 nurses being quarantined.
The ICU has also limited the number of patients admitted to six from the usual eight. – The Vibes, October 11, 2020
