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PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s public hospitals and treatment and quarantine centers for low-risk Covid-19 patients have almost reached their maximum capacity, as large numbers of infections continue to be reported every day, the CEO of cheers, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Speaking at his daily press conference, Noor Hisham said that all Covid-19 hospitals and low-risk centers were capable of treating up to 23,000 patients at a time.
However, its limits were being reached with the 22,089 current active cases in the country.
“We are looking for more preparations if cases continue to increase,” said Noor Hisham. “But 89-90% of the cases are asymptomatic, so we are considering isolating them and quarantining them at home.”
For patients in stage 1 and 2 of Covid-19, the health ministry would give priority to people such as foreign workers and others who did not have a suitable place to undergo quarantine.
Vaccinations can start in March
Noor Hisham also said that the national Covid-19 vaccine strategy was still in the discussion stages, but that it would be announced in the next week or two.
“The vaccine is not here yet, so we expect the approval of the vaccine to be in late February or maybe we will start the vaccination in March.
“It all depends on how quickly the (pharmaceutical) companies can respond to the questions and problems raised by the National Agency for Drug Regulation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said the health ministry will continue to investigate the vaccine’s efficacy and safety for the next four to six months.
Yesterday, Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that a national vaccination plan will be finalized on Thursday at a meeting of the Covid-19 vaccine supply access guarantee committee.
Scheduled to start in February, Khairy said the plan would cover issues related to receiving the vaccine, hospitals registered to access it and logistics.
More Covid-19 field hospitals for Kelantan
The Kelantan state government plans to open more field hospitals or quarantine and low-risk treatment centers, following the increase in Covid-19 cases in the state.
The executive councilor of the state, Dr. Izani Husin, said that the three Covid-19 hospitals were at 90% capacity. “We are in the middle of identifying various areas such as Ketereh and Panji to locate Covid-19 positive patients,” he told reporters after inspecting a treatment center in Dewan Jubli Perak here.
The center has capacity for about 120 patients. He said that 32 patients from the School of Nursing here would be transferred to Dewan Jubli Perak.
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