The Malaysian Insight

SEVERAL hospitals in the Klang Valley will receive more oxygen supplies over the next few days, deputy director-general of health (public health) and Greater Klang Valley Task Force chief Dr Chong Chee Keong said today.
 
“There is also a necessity to secure a pipeline and access to oxygen supply, which is very important,” Chong said in a joint press conference with Health Minister Dr Adham Baba and other top ministry officials today.

The Malaysian Insight reported on July 13 that the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (Maeps) low-risk quarantine and treatment centre (PKRC 2.0) in Serdang was running out of oxygen supply.
 
Health portal Code Blue reported earlier today that at least 29 Covid-19 patients at the Ampang Hospital died on Hari Raya Aidiladha after their oxygen pressure dropped, as the hospital struggled with an overload of critically ill Covid-19 patients that require respiratory support.

He said Selayang Hospital will receive two bulk oxygen tanks of 5,000 litres each.
 
University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Petaling Jaya, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR) in Klang, and the UKM Children’s Specialist Hospital in Cheras will receive one bulk tank each.
 
Several posts claiming that the Selayang Hospital and HTAR are short of oxygen supply went viral on social media recently.

Chong said that a micro-oxygen plant will also be set up in Maeps, which currently has 1,000 tanks in multiple sizes, to increase the oxygen capacity at the centre.
 
Meanwhile, the task force has increased the number of Category 3 patients admitted to Maeps to 600 a day to reduce the backlog of cases in the Klang Valley.
 
On the other hand, some cases have been transferred to private and district hospitals to increase the capacity of Covid-19 hospitals.
 
Chong also said that the health ministry will look for another mega Covid-19 quarantine and low-risk treatment centre to cater to the soaring infections.

Currently, a total of 12,104 beds are being used for Covid-19 patients. Separately, 636 ICU beds and 911 ventilators are in use in the Klang Valley alone.
 
He said health authorities set up 800 beds a day to cater to the volume of cases.
 
Mercy Malaysia field hospital assets and resources have also been deployed to the emergency department of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and Selayang Hospitals to set up 100 beds each.
 
An additional 100 beds have been placed at the corridors of the UMMC and Selayang Hospital.
 
He urged Klang Valley residents who have tested positive to stay home and monitor themselves using the health assessment tool in the My Sejahtera application.
 
He added that a digital home surveillance order (HSO) will be issued in lieu of the pink wristband to Covid-19 patients undergoing home quarantine as a reminder that they are bound to follow quarantine regulations.
 
Those who are symptomatic will be called to the Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CACs), if deemed necessary by health authorities. This would allow health authorities to focus on Covid-19 patients with deteriorating conditions, he said.
 
Presently, CACs have been receiving 4,000 to 6,000 cases daily.
 
More than half of the 15,573 cases today came from the Klang Valley, with Selangor reported a whopping 7,672 cases while Kuala Lumpur recorded 2,063. – July 23, 2021.