New Covid-19 cases remain above 6,000, ICU beds closing in, vaccination full swing

In the Progress Report for the National Immunisation Programme released today, the ministry reported that 60 percent of the senior citizens who had registered for the vaccine have already been vaccinated. Graphics courtesy of Health Ministry.

PUTRAJAYA, July 4 – The Government will be taking various measures as the number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds reach 85 percent capacity, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Adham Baba in a Twitter posting today.

More outsourcing of non Covid-19 patients to private hospitals will be done to relieve government hospitals so that they can take on more Covid-19 patients, he said.

Other measures would be to increase the number of ICU beds and non ICU beds as well as equipment and other facilities such as ventilators in KKM hospitals and teaching university hospitals so that they able to take on and treat more Covid-19 patients.

The ministry would be also temporarily mobilising health personnel such as medical specialists and parmedics from several states to support the services of the KKM hospitals and teaching hospitals which are in need of more staff.

Dr Adham said the ministry would also optimise the support of volunteers and final year trainee nurses from KKM’s training institutions and currently undergoing their practicals, he said. They would be vaccinated first and they would be roped in to assist health personnel already working at the vaccination centres (PPVs).

Some of the experienced nurses working at PPVs and virus screening centres would be also posted to KKM hospitals to help with the plan to increase vaccinations from 250,000 to 300,000 a daily with the receipt of additional vaccines andd the opening of more PPVs in the country, the Health Minister said.

As of today, July 4, there were an addition of 6,045 new Covid-19 cases in the country, raising the total number of the virus infections to 778,652.

Selangor and Kuala Lumpur continued to mark the highest number of cases at 2,262 and 616 respectively.

Meanwhile in its Progress Report for the National Immunisation Programme today, the ministry reported that 60 percent of the senior citizens who had registered for the vaccine have already been vaccinated.

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