THE government is looking at opening the new Sri Aman hospital quickly to alleviate the pressure on Kuching General Hospital, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today.

“We have also received a request from the state government to open Hospital Sri Aman quickly. We are looking at how to accelerate the opening…,” he said at a press conference in Kuching today.

The new Sri Aman hospital, with 108 beds, is expected to be fully completed in October.

Apart from that, Khairy said the federal government has also sanctioned an additional RM3 million in funding for Sarawak to outsource non-Covid-19 medical procedures to the private sector.

He said Sarawak has spent about RM4.6 million out of the RM5 million allocated previously.

The government will be sending 20 ventilators and 30 more ambulances to the state.

“Ambulances are a big problem, so we have approved 30 more ambulances for Sarawak,” he said.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force will also be delivering 1,008 oxygen cylinders to Sarawak.

Additionally, a modular ICU with an additional 20 beds will be set up, and 64 health workers will be mobilised to the state next week.

Sarawak have been reporting a surge in Covid-19 cases with an average of 2,724 cases reported over the seven days. – September 26, 2021.