A hospital in Selangor that has been operating at full capacity due to rising COVID-19 cases will receive 110 more beds by the government, part of which will be set up in a field hospital within its compound.
Newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today that the Malaysian Armed Forces will set up a 50-bed field hospital at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, or HTAR, located in Klang. This is in addition to the 60 beds and additional equipment costing around RM1.1 million (about US$260,000) announced by Health Minister Adham Baba.
A video of the hospital, also known as Klang General Hospital, that surfaced online yesterday showed a messy ward with trash strewn across the floor as well as people lying on temporary beds on a service road outside the emergency department, where several people were also sleeping in the waiting area.
“Klang GH in dire need of support NOW. The government has allocated RM1.1 million in an emergency move to mitigate the overwhelming number of Covid-19 patients at Klang General Hospital. This initial fund must reach Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah within 24 hours,” Klang Member of Parliament Charles Santiago said in an online caption last night.
Klang GH in dire need of support NOW
The government has allocated RM1.1 million in an emergency move to mitigate the overwhelming number of Covid-19 patients at Klang General Hospital.
This initial fund must reach Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah within 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/VyeneIYBNC— Charles Santiago (@mpklang) July 8, 2021
Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday warned that the health systems in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Labuan will soon be paralyzed if COVID-19 infections do not go down. He also noted the concerning increase in COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU.
“The number of new daily cases being reported shows no sign of reduction, and instead, had increased by an average of 2.6% over the last seven days,” he said. “If this goes on, the health systems in these two states and federal territories will be paralysed.”
Malaysia has been under total lockdown for an indefinite period of time since June 1.
Selangor continued to report the highest daily number of COVID-19 cases. Nearly half of the 8,868 new cases reported nationwide yesterday were in Selangor.
Twenty ICU beds have been added to Hospital Ampang and another eight at Hospital Universiti Putra Malaysia. Forty-five regular ward beds were also delivered to the university hospital.
Another field hospital is expected to be set up in Melaka, according to Ismail Sabri, who is also the defense minister.
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