By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Jan 19: With Sibu Hospital reaching 79 per cent bed capacity, the state Health Department is opening four new Quarantine and Low Risk Treatment Centres to meet the demand posed by the increasing number of Covid-19 patients here.
These four centres are Methodist Centennial Hostel (94 beds), Kememu Camp (123 beds), Malaysian Health Training Institute, Sibu (94 beds) and Hotel Desa Sanyan which can offer up to 800 beds.
Sarawak Health Director Dr Chin Zin Hing said these facilities will be ready for use in a week’s time.
“At the same time, some patients have recovered and were removed (sic) from time to time. Today, 10 patients have been discharged.
“So we are confident that Sibu Hospital with existing facilities can treat Covid-19 patients, although the number of cases is increasing,” said Dr Chin during a press conference to give Covid-19 updates at the former State Legislative Assembly building here today.
As of today, there are 699 Covid-19 patients who are receiving treatment at Sibu Hospital.
Both Sibu and Kuching have been categorised as Covid-19 red zones since Jan 10, 2021 after reporting more than 40 cases each over two weeks.
While Kuching’s Covid-19 situation is improving, cases in Sibu Division remain high with the Pasai cluster continuing to expand.
The Covid-19 situation in Sibu has been further aggravated with 13 Sibu Hospital staff among those contracting the dreaded illness.
Today, Sibu registered 65 new cases while for the past seven days, it remains the division reporting the highest single-day tally in Sarawak. — DayakDaily
