KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's health system has reached a breaking point with the country registering up to 2,000 new Covid-19 cases almost every day.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said bed occupancy rate excluding Intensive Care Units at 15 Covid-19 hospitals nationwide has surpassed 70 per cent.
"The bed occupancy rate at Intensive Care Units (ICU) to treat Covid-19 patients has reached 100 per cent for the Kuala Lumpur Hospital as well as Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (PPUM).
"The bed occupancy rate at the ICU for Covid-19 treatment at the Sungai Buloh Hospital has reached 83 per cent.
"Meanwhile, the bed occupancy rate at the ICU for Covid-19 treatment at hospitals in Perak, Selangor, Melaka, Terengganu and Sarawak have surpassed 70 per cent," said Muhyiddin in a special address today.
The situation, he said, worsened after 1,450 health and medical staff at hospitals nationwide have contracted the virus or are they were observing quarantine and could not perform their duties.
"The country's Covid-19 death toll continues to rise to 521 cases.
"Malaysia recorded more than 100 Covid-19 fatalities a month between October and December last year, which is a significant increase, compared to between two and 59 deaths a month between March and September the same year.
"The spike in new cases daily caused a delay for health workers to pick-up patients from their respective houses to the hospitals and the Covid-19 Quarantine and Low Risk Treatment Centres," he said.