Malaysia turns to field ICUs, shipping containers as cases surge

Unorthodox measures are being rolled out as Malaysia's healthcare system is stretched thin, not just by the rising number of Covid-19 cases but the severity of the infections, with more patients in intensive care units (ICUs).

Besides the deployment of military-built hospitals, "field ICUs" are set to be rolled out in Penang, where critical care capacity has breached 100 per cent, while the surge in deaths has forced Sungai Buloh Hospital, the Klang Valley's main coronavirus treatment facility, to use a shipping container as a makeshift morgue.

Officials in Malaysia have been opening new Covid-19 ICU wards during this year's outbreak which saw record highs of new and active cases in January and February respectively, while both the number of cases in ICU and deaths peaked last week.

ICU utilisation is at nearly 90 per cent of the 850 beds available, despite a nationwide movement control order (MCO) imposed last Wednesday.

"If we are unable to curb the spread, then a full MCO can be considered," Health Minister Adham Baba said yesterday about Selangor, which is facing the worst outbreak in the current wave, regularly accounting for about a third of the country's new infections.

The current MCO allows a wide swathe of the economy to be open, whereas last year's version had barred all non-essential activity.

Elective surgery has been postponed and semi-emergency cases transferred out from Covid-19 hospitals as the Health Ministry tries to add up to 1,000 new beds, including at teaching hospitals.

There are more Covid-19 patients needing medical care, with dreaded variants of the virus identified in South Africa, India and the United Kingdom being detected. Datuk Seri Adham said last week that half of all new patients in the past month had symptoms, though just 27 per cent did in March.

This has forced even low-risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC) to open up more beds for symptomatic patients, including placing double-decker beds in open-air carparks, a move which led to complaints.

A patient, Mr Syed Mohamed Arif Abdul Rahim, alleged on Sunday that after he checked into the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang PKRC in Selangor, he had to spend the night without a pillow or blanket. "There's just a bidet near the toilet bowl. Voila! This is the shower guys! All in all, someone could develop mental health problems here," he said on Twitter.

In response, the state health department said the situation at that particular PKRC "is increasingly challenging with the surge of Category 3 patients", referring to those with pneumonia.

Auxiliary "outdoor" set-ups are also being used for more serious cases. Malaysia's director-general of health Noor Hisham Abdullah visited the Tuanku Mizan Armed Forces Hospital on Sunday to observe a dry run of field ICUs set up for the Kepala Batas Hospital in Penang. The 27 units are expected to be operational by the weekend.

"ICU patient admission in Penang has increased by more than 45 per cent over the past two weeks and this upward trend is expected to continue," he said.

Meanwhile, the bodies have been piling up at Sungai Buloh Hospital, with 14 Covid-19 deaths recorded over the weekend alone. The Health Ministry shared grim images of a container being prepared as a temporary morgue.

Malaysia reported another 4,446 infections and a new record of 45 deaths yesterday, bringing the totals to 474,556 and 1,947 respectively since the pandemic began.