KUCHING: The Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) Covid-19 intensive care unit (ICU) and wards are now full, reported a website.
“All seven beds for Covid-19 patients in the ICU are currently filled while five beds for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases in the intensive care ward will be converted into Covid-19 beds.
“We are in the process of converting all to Covid-19 beds. So, it will soon be a total of 12,” a medical officer from SGH told CodeBlue, a website that reports on health matters on April 21.
The source said the hospital used to have 18 Covid-19 ICU beds during the previous wave, but it could not go back to that as there were not enough staff to cope with the temporary ICU for non-Covid or SARI patients.
“Some Covid-19 patients in the ward, who are on oxygen therapy such as high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC), are still awaiting ICU beds.
“We need to prioritise the ill ones with multiorgan involvement or difficult ventilation. Currently, of our seven patients in the Covid-19 ICU, two are intubated and five are on HFNC,” the source said.
Another medical officer from SGH said that their admission team and wards were overwhelmed with patients.
“We try our best to clear the beds in wards for new admissions every day by sending relatively more stable patients to other wards to continue their isolation process.
“If the conditions of Covid-19 patients shifted to non-hospital settings deteriorate or if they develop warning signs, then they will be transferred back to the hospital again.
“In settings like Anjung Kasih or Kolej Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu (KSKB), we will put more stable patients. We only keep ill or high-risk patients in the general hospital,” the source said.
It added that intubated Covid-19 patients would be placed in the Covid-19 ICU or the infectious disease ward while ill patients on oxygen supplementation or HFNC would be put in the female medical ward.
More stable Covid-19 patients would be admitted to the male medical ward.
“When they think patients are stable enough to step down care, then they will be transferred to Anjung Kasih and KSKB,” the source said.
Meanwhile, another SGH medical officer said that SGH was still able to manage the surge in Covid-19 cases.
“Sibu is overwhelmed but we in Kuching can still keep our heads above the water. What happens after Raya and Gawai is anyone’s guess,” said the source.
New Sarawak Tribune has tried to reach the Sarawak Health Department director for comments but to no avail.
