KOTA KINABALU – Health authorities in Sabah today admitted to the overcrowding situation at the state’s main Covid-19 hospitals here – the Queen Elizabeth Hospitals (QEH).
While the state hospital beds usage is at 35.57% statewide, occupied beds at QEH have hovered between 89% and 92% the last five days.
“The glaring difference in terms of occupied beds is the result of QEH being the reference hospital, and where most Covid-19 cases with higher complications are referred to,” said state Covid-19 secretariat spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun tonight.
He also said QEH also handles patients from adjacent districts, not just those in Kota Kinabalu.
There are two QEH here, with the capacity to handle more than 1,000 patients.
When asked why some Covid-19 patients have to wait several days at home before being picked up by healthcare workers, Masidi said there are enough ambulances, adding that the problem arises largely from patients giving the state health department incorrect details.
He said either they did not pick up calls when contacted or gave incorrect addresses.
There are a total of 236 vehicles designated to assist in Covid-19 control work, but only nine are being used to pick up Covid-19 patients statewide, while the rest are put on standby.
A source from the Sabah Health Department, however, says the shortage of ambulances and the high turnaround time to get the vehicles ready for fresh patient pick-ups have resulted in hundreds of Covid-19 patients having to wait at home for a few days before they are picked up by healthcare workers and sent to the hospital.
Under the health SOPs, positive patients need to be picked up the same day they are confirmed positive.
Masidi said most of these cases are rare incidences and therefore do not reflect the whole situation on the ground.
Masidi also said there are no new SOPs relating to positive patients being discharged earlier than the mandatory 14-day quarantine and required to complete the remaining days of their self-isolation at home.
However, he said doctors may have given these patients clean bills of health.
This comes after it was revealed that several Covid-19 patients were issued with discharge papers signed by doctors before their 14-day quarantine period was up.
Masidi said the Sabah government is considering every option, including restricting flights into the state, if cases start spiking again as a result of social gatherings and festivities.
The state government has made it mandatory to report to the Covid-19 secretariat before organising any social gatherings.
Sabah today recorded 405 new cases and one new cluster related to a wood factory in Kg Pitas in Tawau. – The Vibes, January 6, 2021
