KOTA BARU – Three more Covid-19 low-risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC) will be opened in three districts in Kelantan to cope with the growing number of Covid-19 cases in the state.
Kelantan PKRC director Dr Mohd Azman Yacob said the three districts were Machang, Pasir Puteh, and Kuala Krai.
“We will visit the identified locations today to determine whether they are suitable to be used as centres.
“We don’t want the new centres to be located too far away (from Kota Baru), like in Gua Musang, because it will only focus on the people in the district. If we open it near the Kota Baru district, we can also accommodate patients from here,” he said.
He said this at a press conference after visiting the centre at Dewan Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Keseniaan Negara Kelantan in Tanjong Chat here today.
The centre is capable of accommodating 220 bunk beds, including 70 beds for category three patients.
Earlier, Azman handed over the duties of Kelantan PKRC director to Dr Mohd Zurairie Mohd Zubir.
Meanwhile, Azman said that in the first five months of this year, the Kelantan Health Department had opened 13 centres, currently housing more than 2,000 patients, indicating that the Covid-19 situation in the state is worrying.
He said Kelantan was the second state in the country with the highest number of centres after Sarawak.
“Among the 13 centres currently operating in the state are the Kelantan Islamic Rehabilitation Centre in Pengkalan Chepa; the Universiti Sains Malaysia Health Campus centre in Kubang Kerian; Dewan Jubli Perak Kota Baru, and the Youth and Sports Complex in Panji, Kota Baru.
“Kelantan has also become the first state in the country to have its clinical quarantine centre at Gelanggang Seni Kota Baru, equipped with 30 medical beds, portable oxygen, an electrocardiogram machine, and other medical equipment,” he said in a special interview.
The number of daily Covid-19 cases in the state has been on the rise over the past three days.
Yesterday, Kelantan recorded 907 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the cumulative figure to 26,481.
Azman advised all Kelantanese to adhere to the standard operating procedures to curb the spread of Covid-19 and reduce the risk of infection.
“The capacity of Kelantan’s centres has almost reached 100% and the newly opened centre can reach full capacity within 72 hours.
“In fact, the average daily number of patients admitted to centres is higher than that of those discharged,” he said. – Bernama, May 30, 2021
