KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia saw a record 135 Covid-19 deaths on Thursday (July 8), the highest since the pandemic started, and a spike in new daily infections to 8,868.

This comes as health authorities announced more beds, equipment and staff to prop up the healthcare system at risk of collapse.

The new infection figure – up from 7,097 on Wednesday – marks the second highest daily number since the country hit 9,020 cases in May this year.

Selangor and Kuala Lumpur charted the highest number of infections at 4,152 and 1,133 respectively.

There was also a record of 952 patients in intensive care.

The total number of infections nationwide is now 808,658, with a death toll of 5,903.

The surge in numbers came as religious authorities announced on Thursday that mosques in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan – excluding areas under the tightest form of lockdown – will be allowed to reopen from Friday (July 9) for congregational prayers, but with a limited capacity ranging from 12 to 300.

For those under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO), only three congregants are allowed for prayers.

Healthcare staff in several hospitals are also being infected.

Thirty staff members, including doctors, nurses and cleaners at Hospital Sultan Abdul Halim in Sungai Petani, Kedah, have been infected with the virulent Delta and Beta strains of Covid-19, according to Malay-language Harian Metro daily.

With daily figures continuing to rise in the last few days despite a nationwide lockdown, Health Minister Adham Baba on Thursday announced several reinforcements for Klang Valley hospitals. This includes setting up more intensive care unit (ICU) beds, field hospitals and low-risk treatment centres, and provision of oxygen tanks.

The Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang, Selangor, was reported to have put at least 10 patients on temporary canvas beds outside its emergency department on Wednesday after apparently having run out of beds.

Klang MP Charles Santiago uploaded photos on his Twitter account showing patients lying on camp beds outside the hospital’s emergency department.

The government should consider using halls or budget hotels as quarantine and treatment centres to provide a more comfortable place for patients in Klang immediately, he wrote in a letter to the Health Minister on Thursday.

The Health Ministry said it would send 60 more beds and additional equipment totalling RM1.1 million to the hospital, while the military will set up a field hospital there with 50 beds.

It will also work with private hospitals and employers to set up more low-risk Covid-19 quarantine centres and assessment centres.

It is also adding more ICU beds at several other government hospitals, and 1,550 oxygen cylinders for patients at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang quarantine and treatment centre in Selangor, the worst hit state in Malaysia.

A total of 2,400 additional beds will be opened up at a Health Ministry training institute in Sungai Buloh, Selangor.

The Tuanku Mizan Army Hospital in Kuala Lumpur will now treat Covid-19 patients requiring oxygen and intubation.

Volunteers from the Red Crescent Society will be mobilised to care for children who are infected, while their parents are being treated for Covid-19 in hospital.

Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah warned on Wednesday that the healthcare system was at risk of collapse amid persistently high daily caseloads.

Hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and the Federal Territory of Labuan have exceeded bed capacity for Covid-19 patients, he said in a statement.

“If this situation persists, the health system in those states will be paralysed and in turn, a similar situation for the whole country is likely to occur,” he said.

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