A general view of the Sungai Buloh Hospital January 28, 2020. – Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — The Selangor Health Department has confirmed that as of 8am today, Sungai Buloh Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) capacity has reached 96 per cent, ahead of concerns that Covid-19 cases may spike again next month.
Selangor Health director Datuk Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman said that the surge in cases was due to the hospital receiving Covid-19 cases from other hospitals around the Klang Valley.
“This hospital is a Full Covid-19 Hospital and a Covid-19 referral hospital for all hospitals not only in the state of Selangor but also in the Klang Valley.
“Therefore, the ICU of Sungai Buloh Hospital also receives Covid-19 cases from other hospitals so that the ICUs of other hospitals can be used to accommodate more non-Covid-19 case needs,” he said in a statement.
Dr Sha’ari said that as precautionary measures, the Oxygen Gas System at the National Leprosy Control Centre has been enhanced to accommodate Covid-19 cases as well as help reduce the burden on the hospital.
“In addition, the Sungai Buloh Hospital is also supported by other hospitals in the Klang Valley if needed to meet its needs with regards to Covid-19 cases,” he added.
On usage of Selangor hospital beds, he said that the number of non-critical beds in the hospital for Covid-19 patients stands at 1,286 with a utilisation rate of 92 per cent.
Meanwhile, he also mentioned that the current number of ICU beds and repurposed ICUs in Selangor, including Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients, stands at 203 beds, with a utilisation rate of 80 per cent.
“The number of current ICU patients who are Covid-19 cases (confirmed and suspected Covid-19) is 86 cases which is 42 per cent of the ICU capacity in the state of Selangor.
“The rest are non-Covid-19 cases,” he said.
Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 6,266 cases as Selangor topped the list with the highest number of cases in terms of states with 1,606.
As of yesterday, Selangor had 86 active Covid-19 patients in ICUs, making up 86.9 per cent bed utilisation for Covid-19 cases and 80.3 per cent for non-Covid cases.