SERDANG – The Covid-19 integrated quarantine and treatment centre 2.0 at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) is prepared to open more halls to accommodate the increasing number of patients, especially from the Klang Valley.
Its director Dr Shahabuddin Ibrahim today said five halls were currently open, namely halls A, B, C, D1, and DG, which house a total of 3,883 Covid-19 patients from Categories 1, 2, and 3.
“From time to time we are adapting to the needs and risks involved, for example, looking at the increase in Covid-19 cases for Category 3, we can already expect it will cause a backlog at Sg Buloh Hospital.
“We are always a few steps ahead, and even now, we are making preparations to open another hall, namely hall E,” he told the media after checking the preparations for hall F which is expected to begin operating tomorrow.
Covid-19 Categories 1 and 2 patients are patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, while category 3 patients are symptomatic with pneumonia and category 4 symptomatic with pneumonia and requiring oxygen assistance.
Hall A currently houses patients from Categories 1, 2 and 3; hall B places Category 3 patients, while halls C, D1, and DG house Categories 1 and 2 patients.
As of now, MAEPS has a capacity of 5,869 beds, with about 70% already filled.
Shahabuddin said MAEPS was also ready to accept more Category 4 transit patients.
“From the time the centre was initially set up, its main purpose other than as a quarantine centre was to serve as a buffer for hospitals in the Klang Valley. We concentrate on Categories 1, 2, and 3 patients.
“We really have to be ready to accept more Category 4 patients which may be housed in hall B for patients with long-term oxygen dependency, but our target is to transfer them to Sg Buloh Hospital within six hours,” he said.
Category 4 Covid-19 patients are currently temporarily housed in a negative pressure isolation tent acting as a transit intensive care unit, known as the MAEPS Acute Resuscitation And Isolation Area (Maria).
Critical patients who need respiratory assistance will be stabilised first at Maria before being readmitted to the ward or taken to Sg Buloh Hospital for further treatment.
On the opening of hall F, Dr Shahabuddin said it provided 580 beds to accommodate Categories 1 and 2 patients.
“We want to provide a little more comfort for our citizens, so we built hall F with the best possible facilities such as air conditioning, a lounge for patients to relax. and dividers that separate male and female patients.
“This is to ensure that those housed in Hall F are more comfortable, including having access to surau and toilet facilities,” he said. – Bernama, May 19, 2021
