Malaysia's hospital bed occupancy falls as active Covid-19 cases decline and mild cases quarantine at home
PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – With active Covid-19 cases Malaysia declining, the Health Ministry is seeing some breathing space in its hospital overcapacity problem.
The Health Ministry’s director-general, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, said one move that has helped to ease the ministry’s burden is allowing low-risk and asymptomatic Covid-19 patients to undergo home quarantine.
He said bed occupancy at hospitals and Covid-19 quarantine centres has generally dropped in the first two weeks of the month.
“In the first week of February, 28,412 Covid-19 patients were approved to undergo isolation at home.
“In the second week, 19,800 patients were under home quarantine. I believe this number has helped ease overcapacity at our hospitals and quarantine centres.
“The bed occupancy for Covid-19 patients at hospitals has dropped to 47 per cent and at quarantine centres to 37 per cent, ” he said at his regular Covid-19 briefings on Wednesday (Feb 17).
He added that beds at intensive care units were now down to 55 per cent in occupancy.
“Once upon a time, the figure almost reached 80 per cent to 90 per cent.
“Now, I think we are able to accommodate our facilities better, and this can be enhanced from time to time, ” he said.
Total active cases were at 41,396cases on Wednesday, compared to above 50,000 in recent weeks.
Earlier, Dr Noor Hisham announced 5,718 Covid-19 patients had been discharged on Wednesday – a new record for recoveries in a single day.
Patients who are classified under Categories 1 and 2 can undergo quarantine in their homes with the supervision of the ministry’s Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CAC).
Category 1 comprises positive cases with no symptoms; and Category 2 is for positive cases with mild symptoms.
The CAC is also tasked with assessing first if a patient’s living conditions are suitable for home quarantine.
Malaysia on Wednesday logged 2,998 daily Covid-19 cases, the third day in a row that cases were below 3,000 a day. Cumulative cases in the country stood at 272,163 the third highest in South-east Asia after Indonesia and the Philippines.
There were 22 deaths to raise total fatalities rose to 1,005.
Source: Read Full Article
