ALOR STAR – Kedah is in support of the federal government’s decision to enforce the nationwide lockdown starting June 1 to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor in a statement said there was no choice other than to impose a total lockdown given the surge in Covid-19 cases.
“All should get registered for the National Immunisation Programme and heed standing operating procedures for the safety of everyone,” he said.
Kedah recorded a total of 468 new cases today taking its cumulative number of cases to 18,023.
The Health Department in its Facebook page said that due to the sharp increase in the number of cases in the state, elective surgery and procedures have long been delayed.
This has reduced the use of beds for surgical cases and allowed more repurpose wards to be used to treat Covid-19 patients.
At the same time, medical personnel in other disciplines could be optimized as directed by Health Ministry Director-General Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah in a letter dated May 7.
It added that the general surgeon and orthopaedic surgeon at Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah in Alor Star were treating patients at the hospital’s Emergency and Trauma Department.
Although the doctors were surgeons, they were temporarily housed by the hospital and the state Health Department to assist in the treatment of Covid-19 patients and non-Covid-19 patients at the hospital.
It said more specialists from other disciplines would be deployed to address the cases if the situation in the state worsened.
The department advised the public to adhere to the SOPs and lockdown to break the chain of infection. – The Vibes, May 29, 2021
