KUALA LUMPUR: Services at the Intensive Care Unit of Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Sabah continue as usual with the number of patients declining from eight to six, after one of the nurses was tested positive for Covid-19 on Oct 6.
Health director-general, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pix) said 92 medical personnel in the hospital were screened on Oct 9 where another nurse who was in close contact with the index case, was also tested positive, while the rest were tested negative.
“Currently, 40 out of 66 nurses are undergoing home quarantine. We are still investigating the cause of infection. So far, most of the infections involving health personnel in Sabah were from the community or from one personnel to another,” he said in his Facebook posting today.
According to Dr Noor Hisham, as at Oct 9, 579 of the ministry’s health and medical personnel from various schemes of service had contracted Covid-19.
“During the same period in Sabah, 198 ministry staff were infected and October recorded the highest number so far with 85 people, compared to 66 in September,” he said.
Hence, Dr Noor Hisham advised all health and medical personnel to wear suitable Personal Protective Equipment when carrying out their duties and adhere to the standard operating procedures whether at the workplace or with the community.
Meanwhile, he said, more health and medical volunteers were needed to assist the Health Ministry in tackling the third wave of Covid-19.
As at Oct 8, a total of 475 medical and public health personnel of various categories and service schemes had been deployed to Tawau, Lahad Datu, Semporna, and Kota Kinabalu to deal with the spread of Covid-19 in Sabah.
The mobilisation involved 297 personnel from the state Medical Division and Public Health Division, while 178 are staff of the same divisions from other states.
“The welfare of all health and medical personnel will continue to be our priority in ensuring the ministry’s primary asset can carry out their duties well. Thank you so much to all personnel and volunteers who have worked together in fighting Covid-19 in Malaysia so far,” said Dr Noor Hisham.
He added that human resource needs assessment would be made continuously to help contain the virus transmission in Sabah while ensuring continuity of the health services in the state. -Bernama
