KUALA LUMPUR – A container of the type more commonly used for goods transported by trailer trucks was today brought to Selayang Hospital to store bodies of Covid-19 victims.
Prepared by the hospital’s Forensic Medicine Department, the refrigerated container measures approximately 6m in length and can hold up to 20 bodies.
Last week, the Health Ministry, in a Facebook post, indicated that Sg Buloh Hospital was forced to use a similar container as its mortuary was running out of space.
A few days later, Malaysiakini reported that the hospital had to procure a second freezer in anticipation of more coronavirus fatalities.
Malaysia today reported close to 8,000 infections, breaking its record for a third consecutive day, and 59 deaths, taking the country’s total caseload to 541,224 with 2,491 fatalities.
Over 40% of the new cases were recorded in the Klang Valley, with 2,675 in Selangor and 561 in Kuala Lumpur.
Selayang Hospital is located near the border between the federal capital and Selangor, 16km from the city centre.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has raised the alarm about workplace clusters, with 233 active ones reported as of yesterday, making for 39% of clusters yet to be contained in the country.
The government has announced stepped-up measures under the third movement control order, including work-from-home arrangements.
Taking effect two days ago, the latest rules limit office capacity at 60% for the private sector and 20% for the public sector.
Raising concern amid the pandemic is the national immunisation programme’s technical issues.
The third round of registration for the AstraZeneca vaccine opt-in programme yesterday was marred by problems with the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee website, leading to many being unable to book slots.
Today, however, it was reported that some people who were unable to register received notifications that they made the list.
National vaccination campaign coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin has apologised for yesterday’s flop, saying “it could have been much, much better executed”. – The Vibes, May 27, 2021
