THE halls of the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (Maeps) are being refurbished to serve as a temporary hospital for Covid-19 patients should there be a spike in cases next month.

Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the facility will be ready by tomorrow.

“Preparations for the temporary hospital are being carried out despite sufficient capacity at hospitals to accommodate patients.

“It’s better to be over-prepared than under,” he said in his daily press conference in Putrajaya today.

Hall A at Maeps can fit 400 beds, while Hall B can take in 200. They will be managed by the National Disaster Management Agency in collaboration with the Health Ministry.

Dr Noor Hisham said altogether, there are 3,400 hospital beds, and those at the ministry’s training centre bring the total to 5,292.

“We have sufficient beds, but we are always prepared for the worst.”

He said the temporary hospital at Maeps will be used as a model if there is a need to convert other halls or indoor stadiums for the same purpose.

“For example, now, we are seeing about 150 to 200 cases a day. But if it surges to 1,000 cases daily, we will need more beds.

“We have about 5,000 beds in hospitals (and the ministry’s training centre), but if we need more, the beds (at Maeps) are ready.” – March 28, 2020.