COVID: Fewer patients at HKL emergency dept - Director

KUALA LUMPUR: The good news shared by a Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) medical officer yesterday that the number of COVID-19 patients at its emergency department has dropped was confirmed by its director Dr. Rohana Johan today.

Speaking to the media, Dr. Rohana said the downward trend had been going on for the past month and was most noticeable in the past week.

"Alhamdulilah, if we compare the admission of COVID-19 patients over the past month, we can see a decrease in the number of cases admitted at the emergency department.

"If a month ago, there were more than 200 emergency cases waiting for admission to the ward, now there are only around 20 people left," she said when met at HKL, today.

Dr Rohana believed that the cooperation of the people in taking their vaccination and adhering to the standard operating procedures have contributed to this situation.

She said there is also a declining trend in category five cases requiring respiratory assistance, especially among those who had been fully vaccinated.

"Although there are still cases that require respiratory assistance, most of them are among those who do not have vaccination history," she said.

More reassuring, she said, the current situation is a welcome respite for frontiners as they are now able to treat patients in a calmer and less tense atmosphere, adding that she is confident this downward trend will continue with the cooperation from the public.

Dr Rohana also thanked all parties involved in the implementation of various initiatives of the Health Ministry, including the Greater Klang Valley Special Task Force and private hospitals that are willing to accept non-COVID patients for treatment.

"Also the collaboration initiative with the Malaysian Armed Forces, Malaysian Civil Defence Force volunteers, either clinical or non-clinical, that helps reduce congestion at the HKL emergency department," she said.

Meanwhile, a check found that two wards that were previously reserved for treating COVID-19 category three patients are now being used as wards to treat non-COVID-19 patients in the yellow zone since last week.

It is understood that the wards that can accommodate 30 patients at a time were once filled with 70 COVID-19 patients.

The canvas beds used in the wards as well as dozens of oxygen tanks and ventilators are now placed in a corner on standby.

Empty beds were also seen in two isolation wards that house category four and five patients as well as those currently in need of respiratory assistance.

One of the isolation wards that can accommodate up to 12 patients, only treats six patients, at the time of writing.

Earlier, HKL anaesthesiologist Dr Hana Hadzrami in a Facebook post shared her relief that referral cases from the emergency department to the intensive care unit for critically ill COVID-19 patients were declining.

"We in the Klang Valley have begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Vaguely but full of hope," she said.

-- BERNAMA