PETALING JAYA: In a move to cope with the surge of Covid-19 cases, especially in the northern state, the Health Ministry is getting the army to build a field hospital in Penang.
The field hospital is the third to be built by the army this year.
Two others were set up earlier this month at Padang Perdana, Kelantan and Kapit, Sarawak.
Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said this during a joint virtual press conference with Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in a Facebook post on Sunday, said a 27-bed field intensive care unit would be set up in Kepala Batas, Penang in the coming week or so.
Dr Noor Hisham said the field hospital was needed to handle the sudden increase in critical Covid-19 cases in the state based on the trend of ICU patient admissions which had increased by more than 45% over the past two weeks.
He added that the “Field ICU” would use a modular concept to treat critical Covid-19 patients requiring ventilator assistance, and would also be equipped with other life-support machines.
The army’s First Infantry Division help set up a 40-bed field hospital in Dewan Masyarakat Melayu Kapit, Sarawak on May 10.
Last October, the army set up a 100-bed field hospital in Tawau, Sabah when the state was reeling from a surge in Covid-19 cases.
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