KOTA KINABALU – Hospitals in Sabah are struggling with the growing number of Covid-19 patients they are receiving, said state health department sources, as Malaysia’s easternmost state continues to reel from the coronavirus pandemic.
Sources said many with Covid-19, especially those with mild symptoms, had to be put on a three-day waiting list without any follow-ups from the hospitals.
Further exacerbating matters is a lack of space and shortage of ambulance services, an insider said, adding that hospitals are already extending Covid-19 wards.
Capacity for hospitals are up to 70%, the source said, and “we are now trying to find more spaces to build more wards”.
There are 24 Covid-19 health facilities in Sabah, including seven hospitals and 18 extension wards for the low-risk patients, with the total bed capacity of 4,967 beds.
Meanwhile, health officials also said there are only two designated ambulances serving three hospitals, Queen Elizabeth I and II and the Likas Women and Children’s Hospital, and covering the districts of Papar, Penampang and Tuaran.
“Taking into consideration the traffic, the distance and the time needed to get the ambulance ready, there’s little that can be done if the cases continue to increase every day,” the official said.
Sabah yesterday recorded 702 new Covid-19 cases, involving 11 Sabah districts. – The Vibes, October 19, 2020
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