GEORGE TOWN: Penang will try its best to support the armed forces and the Health Ministry in setting up a Field ICU dedicated to treating critical patients at the Kepala Batas Hospital.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the 27-bed field intensive care unit (ICU) would contribute greatly to the state's healthcare system, with the utilisation of ICU beds for Covid-19 having reached more than 100 per cent now.
"A budget of RM2.04 million has been requested from the Penang government for electricity supply, mechanical and civil engineering works we well as medical equipment.
"We will try our best to support the armed forces and the Health Ministry in setting up this Field ICU," he told newsmen here today.
Chow said the technical team was working on the Field ICU now.
On Saturday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said a 27-bed Field ICU would be set up in Penang earliest by this week to accommodate the sudden increase in critical Covid-19 cases in the state.
He had said that based on the analysis of the current pandemic situation in Penang, there was an urgent need to set up a Field ICU dedicated to treating critical patients.
He had also said that it was timely due to the increasing rate of Covid-19 ICU bed utilisation in Penang hospitals which had reached more than 100 per cent.
The ministry found that the trend of patient admissions to the ICU in Penang had increased by more than 45 per cent over the past two weeks, he had added.