Following a surge in illnesses, private hospitals are running out of beds for COVID-19 patients, according to the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM).
Dr Kuljit Singh, president of the APHM, said the public should take the shortage seriously and to stop the spread of the virus in order to avert a healthcare shutdown.
“In the last 14 days, there has been a steep acceleration of COVID-19 patients in private hospitals occupying all the designated beds in the COVID-19 wards with even the isolated ICU beds filled up.
“Recently, most private hospitals are not able to accept any more COVID-19 patients, particularly in the Klang Valley.
“The biggest fear would be if we face a healthcare shutdown because of non-availability of beds and oxygen treatment for our citizens,” he said in a statement this morning.
The daily COVID-19 case count surpassed 3,000 cases yesterday. Since 15th April, the number had been exceeding 2,000 on a daily basis.
Government hospitals in the Klang Valley and Johor, according to Kuljit, are also dealing with an increase in COVID-19 patients.
As such, the APHM suggested the government move non-COVID-19 patients to private hospitals at the agreed cost which was accepted last year to be funded fully by the government.
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