KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry today said that it has identified 26 hospitals across the country which will handle suspected and confirmed cases of Novel Coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV.
In a Facebook post, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that the 26 hospitals will handle further examination of suspected cases, as well as treatment of confirmed cases.
He added that for Johor, the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) has been chosen as the referral centre for suspected and confirmed 2019-nCoV cases.
“The ministry has taken measures to provide a procedure on how to handle suspected 2019-nCoV cases, which has been issued to both public and private health facilities to act as a reference for all healthcare professionals on the ground to detect, handle and manage individuals who are suspected of having the virus.
“For any suspected case, or positive case (that is stable), they will be treated and monitored by the HSA’s infectious disease medical team at the Johor Baru Hospital Permai isolation ward, to ensure that the ministry’s facilities are used to an optimum level.
“Permai Hospital has excellent facilities and is guarded by auxiliary police to ensure there is no trespassing by outside parties,” the post read.
Dr Noor Hisham also explained that for critical cases that require intensive treatment and close monitoring, the ministry has identified an isolation ward at the HSA where patients will be kept.
As of Jan 27, Malaysia has detected four positive 2019-nCoV cases – all of whom are tourists from Wuhan, China who entered the country through Johor.