Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the rate of occupied ICU beds exceeding 100% was concerning, as it meant a lack of space for patients in need of critical care.

However, he said the use of non-ICU beds had decreased from 99% to 89% in the last two weeks. The bed occupancy rate at low-risk quarantine and treatment centres is currently at 54%, he added.

Noor Hisham also said the number of active cases had steadily increased, from 57,022 cases on May 23 to 78,017 a week later.

“Despite a 2.6% drop in new weekly cases, the number of active cases continues to rise. As of today, the total number of Covid-19 active cases still receiving treatment is 82,797,” he said in a statement.

Noor Hisham added that hospitals nationwide are seeing an increase in Category 4 and 5 Covid-19 patients requiring respiratory assistance. These are mainly the elderly and those with comorbidities.

He added that patients in both these categories recovered slower due to serious health complications caused by Covid-19.

“Statistics from the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre show that the average treatment period for Category 4 patients is 14 to 16 days while for Category 5 patients, it is 19 to 26 days.”

Noor Hisham reminded that the spread of Covid-19 and hospital capacity for Covid-19 cases were still at critical levels, adding that the rates could increase if people were careless.

He said the situation should not be taken lightly and urged the public to comply with SOPs, obtain information from legitimate sources and sign up for the vaccine.

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