Steven Sim, coordinator between the Penang and the federal government on Covid-19 matters, said the current 91 ICU beds were not enough, with 94% of them already snapped up.
Penang’s death rate, according to the health ministry’s CovidNow portal, is at 13.7 deaths per 100,000 people on a two-week average, ranking first in the country followed by Johor (nine) and Perlis (6.7).
There have been 1,366 Covid-19 deaths to date, with a historic high of 38 reported on Sept 10, while the weekly average at that time showed 29 deaths per week.
The death rate started climbing in early July but is currently on a downward trend, with a weekly average of 13 deaths.
The number of those on ventilator support is also the highest in the country at 77.4%, followed by Kedah (73%) and Putrajaya (70.8%).
Experts have said that the death rate was an indication of a stressed healthcare system, with the largest field hospital in the country being set up in the car park of Penang Hospital last week.
This armed forces facility has 100 beds, four of which are ICU, while the rest are used for patients in categories 3 and 4 – those with pneumonia and those needing oxygen.
ICU bed equipment is expensive
Sim, who is also Bukit Mertajam MP, said that although the addition of the field hospital and 132 new Covid-19 beds at various government healthcare facilities was welcome, ICU beds could make or break the death rate in Penang.
He said while 97-98% of cases were category 1 and 2 patients (those with asymptomatic and mild symptoms), patients in the more critical categories 4 and 5 urgently required intensive care to prevent deaths.
Sim, however, said while the deaths per capita remained the highest in the country, the number had dropped, showing that the ramping up of the state’s healthcare capacity had brought results.
“Our ICU bed numbers have been insufficient from before. More ICU beds mean we will be able to treat severe patients promptly. These are vital facilities as they make a huge difference between life and death,” he said when contacted.
At least 22 more ICU beds in 2 weeks’ time
Sim said there was some glimmer of hope as Penang had been given the assurance that there would be another 12 to 14 ICU beds at the Penang Hospital in the next two weeks, and another 10 at the Kepala Batas Hospital this month.
He said ICU beds were expensive, costing between RM500,000 and RM1 million for the equipment alone.
Besides costs, Sim said staffing was also an issue since ICU beds required round-the-clock monitoring.
He said the health ministry had redeployed 250 medical professionals from other states to Penang in the past two weeks.
Separately, Sim said he had suggested that general practitioners be roped in to care for those under home quarantine, giving consultations via phone calls or house visits.
As of yesterday, there were 11,258 active Covid-19 cases in the state, 92% of whom were under home quarantine.
Currently, 1.13 million out of the state’s 1.77 million people have been vaccinated as of yesterday. A total of 60,016 adolescents, aged between 12 and 17, have been given their first dose, while 1,199 have been fully vaccinated.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST DATA ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA