KUALA LUMPUR: Additional wards have been opened in Sabah hospitals as the number of Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the state.
They are the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, with the Likas sports complex designated as its extension for Covid-19 treatments; Tawau Hospital (Tawau sports complex, Tawau Arena Hall, Tawau prison's complex and Health Ministry training institute); Lahad Datu Hospital (Dewan Tun Hj Mustapha); and Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan (Dewan Rafflesia (ILKKM and PPR Batu Putih).
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said PPR Bubul Ria has been opened to handle Covid-19 patients in the Semporna district while a religious school hostel has been re-purposed to handle cases in Kunak.
He said there were 710 beds at six government hospitals and 1,886 beds at Covid-19 quarantine and low-risk treatment centres.
"As of Oct 6, 75 per cent of the hospital beds and 35 per cent of the beds in the centres are in use.
"Sabah has 72 beds for intensive care services designated for Covid-19 patients in critical condition, of which 38 per cent are in use," he said.
He said the ministry is in the midst of deploying support teams comprising medical experts, medical officers, medical assistant officers as well as nurses to assist the state's healthcare personnel at the additional wards.
The ministry will also be deploying additional assets to the hospitals.
Dr Noor Hisham said a total of 6,759 beds have been allocated for Covid-19 patients at government hospitals (2,820 beds) nationwide, as well as quarantine and low-risk treatment centres (3,975 beds), with occupancy rates of 36 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively.
As for the Intensive Care Units (ICU), a total of 437 beds have been designated for Covid-19 patients, with an occupancy rate of six per cent, he said.
A total of 1,505 ventilators have also been prepared in government hospitals with 37 per cent currently in use, including for non-Covid-19 patients.
As of noon today, Sabah recorded 219 new Covid-19 cases (2,783 cases in total), followed by Kedah (397, total of 1,447), Selangor (40, total of 2,451), Kuala Lumpur (eight, total of 2,707), Perak (eight, total of 286), Negeri Sembilan (seven, 1,062 in total), Johor (six, 793 in total), Sarawak (three, 721 in total), Penang (three, 152 in total), Terengganu (one, 140 in total), Putrajaya (one, 110 in total) and Labuan (one, 39 in total).
No Covid-19 cases were reported in Pahang, Melaka, Kelantan and Perlis today.
Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said there are currently 60 laboratories with the capacity to conduct real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) in Malaysia, namely, Health Ministry hospitals (18), national public Health laboratory (one), public health laboratories (four), Institute of Medical Research (one), Armed Forces (two); Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (one), as well as 13 universities and 20 private laboratories.
Malaysia currently has a Covid-19 daily testing capacity of 41,354 tests, he said.