Final shipment of ICU beds arrive in Malaysia, all 100 now in local hospitals

PETALING JAYA: The last shipment of 24 intensive care unit (ICU) beds ordered from China has arrived in Malaysia, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The Transport Minister said with this shipment, all 100 ICU beds ordered from Hebei Pukang Medical Treatment Equipment Co. Ltd, the largest medical equipment manufacturer in China, have arrived and distributed to government hospitals.

“Many countries around the world have been scrambling for medical equipment such as ICU beds, ventilators, personal protection equipment (PPE) and face masks.

“Prices of these items have skyrocketed since three weeks ago, and the government of China has imposed stricter export rules on all medical equipment since April 1.

“However, the good relationship between Malaysia and China built since 1974 has made all the procedures involving both countries easier, including bringing these 100 ICU beds back home,” he said on his Facebook page on Sunday (April 12).

Earlier, Dr Wee said the task of bringing in 100 ICU beds was not easy and three planes had to be deployed to transport the beds – each weighing 250kg – to Malaysia.

As the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) had barred entry of foreigners into the country, the Transport Ministry had to make a special appeal to allow Teleport – the logistics and cargo arm of AirAsia – to fly to Tianjin and Beijing to transport the 100 beds back to Malaysia in stages.

CAAC eventually allowed AirAsia to fly to Tianjin to transport the first batch of 28 ICU beds, with the second batch of 48 ICU beds arriving on Friday (April 10).

Dr Wee also thanked Yayasan Petronas for their generous donation in sponsoring the cost of the 100 ICU beds for the Health Ministry to treat Covid-19 patients.

“Once again, thank you to Yayasan Petronas, AirAsia, CAAC officials, Transport Ministry staff, the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia and the Malaysia Embassy in China who helped to make this mission a success,” he said.