As Covid-19 rages, Klang Valley ICU capacity at 113pct
The intensive care units (ICUs) at public hospitals in the Klang Valley are now working over capacity at an average of 113 percent as more Covid-19 patients fall critically ill.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said hospitals were forced to repurpose other areas, such as normal wards, into temporary ICU by preparing beds with certain equipment to cope with the increase.
“However, this also reduces...
The intensive care units (ICUs) at public hospitals in the Klang Valley are now working over capacity at an average of 113 percent as more Covid-19 patients fall critically ill.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said hospitals were forced to repurpose other areas, such as normal wards, into temporary ICU by preparing beds with certain equipment to cope with the increase.
“However, this also reduces the chance of non-Covid-19 patients from getting the necessary critical care,” he said in a statement on Facebook today.
He also shared statistics of ICU capacity in various hospitals.
Sungai Buloh Hospital, the main Covid-19 treatment facility in the Klang Valley, is seeing its ICU unit operating at 111 percent as of yesterday.
It has 80 ICU beds but is handling 89 critically ill Covid-19 patients.
Other strained hospitals include Kajang Hospital, Banting Hospital, Serdang Hospital, Tuanku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital and Ampang Hospital, where their ICUs are operating at a capacity of between 113 percent and 317 percent.
All other Klang Valley hospitals have their ICU capacity at over 80 percent except Selayang Hospital, which is at 73 percent.
Noor Hisham said the healthcare system is under tremendous stress and urged the people to play their role in breaking the chain of infection.
“Control your movement by staying at home. If you must go out, abide by the standard operating procedure.
“Employers are urged to allow their employees to work from home and limit the number of workers in the office,” he added.
Outside the Klang Valley, ICUs in all states are also at above 70 percent capacity except in Perlis, Terengganu, Sabah and Labuan.
