Malaysia

Selayang Hospital resorts to goods container to store Covid-19 victims’ bodies

This comes after MoH says Sg Buloh Hospital forced to utilise such a container due to its mortuary running out of space

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 27 May 2021 11:40PM

Selayang Hospital resorts to goods container to store Covid-19 victims’ bodies
The refrigerated container transported to Selayang Hospital today. – The Vibes pic, May 27, 2021

by Lancelot Theseira

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

Related News

Malaysia / 3mth

Covid-19 cases in Malaysia stable, no deaths recorded this year – MOH

Malaysia / 6mth

Bad move to channel EPF dividends into Account 3 for festive withdrawals, cautions economist

Opinion / 10mth

A tale of two administrations: How Warisan and GRS shaped Sabah’s future

Malaysia / 1y

MOH closely monitoring Covid-19 amid rising cases in neighbouring countries

Opinion / 1y

The Trump dilemma and reclaiming balance: The urgent need for fair global trade

Culture & Lifestyle / 1y

Renowned public health expert honoured at award ceremony in Penang

Spotlight

Malaysia

Puteri Umno distances itself from viral Threads post

By Alfian Z.M. Tahir

Malaysia

MACC drops orange detention attire for court remand cases after PM’s call

World

Man jailed six years for keeping Indonesian woman as slave in Melbourne home

Malaysia

Emergency declared in Serian as haze reaches hazardous levels (UPDATED)

Malaysia

Haze in Serian enters emergency phase

Malaysia

Death sentence for deaf, mute man who killed family of four upheld

Malaysia

Retired army officer with Datuk title charged with alleged sexual assault of golf caddie

Heritage

Penang first state to recognise Hungry Ghost Festival, cemeteries as heritage

You may be interested

Malaysia

Bersatu, Muda leaders hold talks amid uncertainty over PN

Malaysia

Indian community will never be marginalised in development agenda – PM Anwar

Malaysia

SRC seeks RM42m from Najib, says he controlled company through multiple roles

Malaysia

Heavy rain triggers fresh soap foam on KESAS, motorists mistake it for ‘snow’

Malaysia

E-hailing driver helps save 71-year-old from losing another RM10k in suspected love scam

Malaysia

Probe into tanker-ferry collision to focus on radar, navigational systems

By Ian McIntyre

Malaysia

Weak earthquake measuring 3.4 magnitude detected in Keningau

Malaysia

‘I will quit if Zahid asks me to, not anyone else’ - Asyraf Wajdi