PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry has denied that the healthcare system in Sabah is collapsing as reported.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Sabah's bed occupancy rate stood at 52 per cent yesterday.
"At the moment, (when we) look at the admission and discharge (rates), the discharge rate is (initially) high. The occupancy rate is very high, about 70 to 80 per cent. At hospitals, we have 1,202 beds, but only 52 per cent of them are being used. At quarantine and low-risk centres, we have 4,511 beds, and only 28 per cent of them are being used. That makes a total of 5,713 beds, and their utilisation is at 33 per cent," he said at the daily Covid-19 press conference here yesterday.
He said out of 129 intensive care units, only 60 per cent were being used, while 33 per cent of the 193 ventilators were in use.
He said Sabah's healthcare system was still within its capacity limit.
"It is not true that the state's healthcare system is collapsing.
"Remember, we have 24 hospitals in Sabah. Only nine of them are allocated for Covid-19 treatment. We have a field hospital in Tawau with 100 beds for non-Covid-19 patients.
"So far, we managed to cope. We monitor the discharge and admission (rates) daily. The admission (rate has) increased in Sabah, but it is from prisons. These facilities have their own quarantine centres.
"We are managing well, but we need to prepare for the worst."
He said the ministry could contain the Covid-19 in Sabah in four weeks.
"We admit that this is more difficult and challenging. However, we are more prepared this time compared with March in terms of human resources, facilities, PPE (personal protective equipment) and others.
"We started our preparations earlier by sending internal human resources, as well as those from other states to assist Sabah. We (have) also sent PPEs and ventilators, as well as increased the number of quarantine and low-risk centres. These issues have been addressed, but we need better coordination."
He said to solve the delays in Covid-19 test results in Sabah, 200,000 RTK-antigen were sent to the state by the ministry.
He added that 1,029 medical personnel were deployed to Sabah. Another 1,200, who will get their offer letters, will register tomorrow.