MALAYSIA reported a record 652 Covid-19 admissions into the intensive care units (ICU) in the past 24 hours, said Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. 

The Health Ministry director-general said this is an additional nine cases in the critical ward compared with yesterday’s tally, where there were 643 admissions. 

Noor Hisham said there was also an increase in patients requiring respiratory support, where 370 people are on ventilators, an addition of seven cases from yesterday.

He reiterated that ICU across the Klang Valley have exceeded 113% capacity, while the nationwide total is 91%.

Noor Hisham said that to accommodate the increase, hospitals have had to repurpose other wards as temporary ICU.

“This will also allow non-Covid19 patients to get the critical care they need.

“For example, at Sungai Buloh Hospital, part of the Emergency Department has been converted into a critical care centre and ICU.”

He had said the 80-bed ICU at Sungai Buloh Hospital, the main Covid-19 hospital in the Klang Valley, was at 111% capacity as of yesterday, handling 89 Covid-19 patients. – May 22, 2021.