71 per cent of beds reserved for COVID-19 patients in Sabah used up - Health DG

KUALA LUMPUR: The usage level of beds in the nine hospitals treating the 723 COVID-19 patients in Sabah as of Oct 13 is at 71 per cent, said Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said 4,161 beds had also been placed at the 19 low-risk COVID-19 quarantine and treatment centres, with the usage level at 23 per cent.

“So far, the usage level of 1,081 beds in the nine COVID-19 hospitals in Sabah is at 71 per cent. The usage level of beds in the intensive care unit is 110, which is equivalent to 57 per cent.

“So, to reduce the burden in these hospitals, category one and two COVID-19 cases, which are asymptomatic or mild symptom, we will place them in the 19 centres while cases in categories three, four and five will be placed at the nine hospitals in Sabah.

“We will carry out detailed and careful monitoring to see the progress of the cases. Right now, we are looking at the need for ventilators. We have 180 ventilators in Sabah, with only 30 per cent usage,” he said in an online press conference on COVID-19 developments yesterday.

Detailing the total number of beds in the nine hospitals in Sabah, Dr Noor Hisham said that for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 324 out of the 684 beds had been reserved for COVID-19 patients, with the latest number of patients being 237 or 73 per cent.

For the Sabah Women and Children’s Hospital in Likas, he said 105 beds or 95 per cent of the 110 beds set aside for COVID-19 patients had been taken up so far.

“The Tawau Hospital has 413 beds, with 214 reserved for COVID-19 patients. Right now there are 178 COVID-19 patients and the usage level is 83 per cent.

“The Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan has 389 beds, with 164 set aside for COVID-19 patients. The number of COVID-19 patients now is 87 and the usage level is 54 per cent,” he said.

The Lahad Datu Hospital, meanwhile, has allotted 131 out of the 226 beds for COVID-19 patients and it currently has 92 COVID-19 patients (70 per cent) while the Keningau Hospital has 18 patients (51 per cent) utilising beds set aside for COVID-19.

As for the Kota Marudu Hospital and Semporna Hospital, each recorded bed usage levels of 25 per cent while the Kudat Hospital, which has allocated two beds for COVID-19 patients, now has only one patient.

-- BERNAMA