He said that although the admission rate was rising, many of the cases did not need to be sent to the ICU, requiring only “step-down care” and treatment.

“If we see this continuing for the next three to four weeks, we can re-convert Sungai Buloh Hospital’s status to hybrid,” he said during a visit to the National Leprosy Control Centre (PKKN) at the hospital today.

He said ‘hybrid’ meant the emergency department would be open to all cases, including non-Covid-related.

“At the moment, Sungai Buloh Hospital accepts non-Covid cases on a case-by-case basis at the hospital director’s discretion,” he said.

Khairy said PKKN would also be used as a hub for all Covid-19 cases in Kuala Lumpur, especially for Category 1 and 2 cases that did not require ICU treatment.

“We have also upgraded eight wards in PKKN to ensure that the beds are fully equipped to help in the treatment of Covid-19 cases,” he said.

Yesterday, Khairy announced the reopening of the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) Covid-19 treatment centre to ease the burden on other public hospitals and lower the risk of Covid-19 patients spreading the infection to non-Covid-19 patients.

He said MAEPS would be reopened from today with 100 beds first and a standby of 850 beds if needed.

“This will further ensure that Klang Valley hospitals have the capacity to take in non-Covid cases,” he said.

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