KUALA LUMPUR – The Kota Marudu Hospital in Sabah has become another hospital designated to treat Covid-19 cases in the state, bringing the total number to seven, said Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah.
In a Facebook posting, he said these hospitals with a capacity of 946 beds are designated to handle Covid-19 cases that require intensive care (category three to five) in the state.
These include 66 critical care beds and 170 ventilators.
“The Health Ministry has also identified six more Covid-19 Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRC) in the state, bringing the tally to 16 to treat patients with no or mild symptoms (category one and two).
“All the 16 PKRC have the capacity of 3,876 beds, bringing the total number to 4,822 beds compared to 2,596 previously,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said apart from the Kota Marudu Hospital, other hospitals that have been designated for Covid-19 cases (category three to five) in Sabah are the Queen Elizabeth Hospital; Sabah Women and Children Hospital; Duchess of Kent Hospital, Sandakan; Tawau Hospital; Lahad Datu Hospital and Keningau Hospital.
As part of the preparation of hospitals in the east coast of Sabah, he said the ministry together with the Malaysian Armed Forces planned to build a field hospital in Tawau.
“Non-Covid-19 patients who are seeking treatment in obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and general surgery will be treated at this field hospital.
“This will give more space to the Tawau Hospital to treat Covid-19 cases in category three to five, while category one and two cases will continue to be placed in PKRC,” he said.
Sabah has recorded a total of 3,841 Covid-19 cases involving 11 red zones. These are Kota Belud, Tuaran, Kota Kinabalu, Putatan, Penampang, Papar, Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Kunak, Semporna and Tawau as well as 19 clusters. – Bernama, October 11, 2020
