HEALTH Director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has reiterated that the ministry is well-prepared to handle the spread of Covid-19 in Sabah, dismissing claims that resources are overstretched.

The ministry had mobilised health personnel from the Peninsular to the state before the Sabah election and sent supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and equipment, he said.

In addition, he said, emergency funds have also been allocated for Sabah.

Some RM25 million, including RM18 million from the emergency allocation, have been earmarked specifically for the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for front liners in Sabah.

“We are monitoring the stockpile of PPEs in Sabah. We (Our PPE) can last for 29 days but there are some, (stocks) can go up to 97 days,” he said while adding that the ministry has also been receiving PPE donations from NGOs.

The Semporna Hospital has also been upgraded to facilitate Covid-19 treatment. There are also field hospitals and low-risk quarantine centres in the state.

He said there are 130 ICU beds and 193 ventilators earmarked specifically for Covid-19.

“We still have a lot of capacity. Those who said our health resources are insufficient, might not have gone to the ground to see for themselves,” he said.

However, he admitted that there were delays in taking action in the initial days due to the turnaround time needed to receive the test results.

Nevertheless, Noor Hisham said the problem has been mitigated with the 200,000 Antigen Rapid Test Kits, which have been sent to the state. This, he said has expedited the testing process.

A health worker recently told Free Malaysia Today that some front liners in the interiors of Sabah are using their own money to buy PPE as supplies are limited.

The person said on condition of anonymity that this includes PPEs bought online which did not have health ministry approval. – November 2, 2020.