Covid-19: No patients with severe symptoms at private hospitals nationwide in months, says APHM chief

PETALING JAYA: Private hospitals in Malaysia have not reported any admissions of Covid-19 patients with severe symptoms over the past few months, says the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM).

APHM president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh (pic) said there had not been any Category 4 or 5 patients admitted at private hospitals in the past two to three months, even when the number of new Covid-19 cases nationwide reached 20,939 on Feb 11.

However, he said there were some Category 1 and 2 patients in private hospitals.

“The Category 1 and 2 admissions are mainly on the patient’s request to be isolated in a private hospital,” he said, adding that all paid for the hospitalisations themselves as insurance typically does not cover mild Covid-19 cases.

“We have noticed a vast difference in the severity of the cases as compared to August 2021 when the numbers of reported cases last went over 22,000 where almost every private hospital particularly in the Klang Valley had zero beds available in both their Covid-19 wards and intensive care units.

“Patients who were willing to pay the full cost of treatment at private hospitals had to be turned away and transferred to government facilities, which were beyond their maximum capacity too,” he said in a statement on Saturday (Feb 12).

“The virulence of the existing Omicron variant may be milder – though very infectious – and the fact that most of our population is fully vaccinated with a high percentage of booster dose recipients, has proven to keep the severity of the disease at a very low level.

“However, continuous vigilance and self-monitoring is still important without any cause of panic amongst the population.

“As many countries are moving into endemicity, we should be preparing ourselves too towards that direction as we do not expect healthcare facilities to be overwhelmed,” he said.

Meanwhile, he estimated that there were 16,500 beds available in private hospitals.

He added that each hospital had set aside a certain percentage of beds to assist the government at any time to receive decanted non-Covid-19 patients and treat full paying Covid-19 patients.

“Private hospitals are regularly engaged by the Health Ministry on this issue of preparedness in the National Rapid Response Task Force,” he said.