KUALA LUMPUR: Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is expected to resume its operations as a non-Covid-19 hospital early next month if the number of Covid-19 patients at the hospital continues to decline.
Its director Prof Datuk Dr Razman Jarmin said the number of Covid-19 patients admitted at the hospital has been declining since the beginning of this month due to the downward trend of cases in the Klang Valley and if this continues the hospital will resume operating as a non-Covid-19 hospital as planned by HTCM's Covid-19 Response Committee.
"HCTM also recorded an increase in non-Covid-19 cases coming to the emergency department. The recovery phase for Covid-19 patients to non-Covid-19 patients has started this week with the decrease in bed occupancy," he said, adding bed usage at its Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) remains the same.
The hospital's management would continue to assess the admission trend of Covid-19 patients and if it continues to decline then the hospital would resume its operations as a non-Covid-19 hospital early next month, he said.
Apart from HCTM, UKM's Children's Specialist Hospital (HPKK) in Cheras is also used as a Covid-19 hospital accommodating about 140 Covid-19 patients from categories three to five, while HCTM is currently treating 109 Covid-19 patients of various categories.
Meanwhile, UKM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Ekhwan Toriman told Bernama the average daily admission of Covid-19 patients at HCTM for July was 48 people, dropping significantly in August when only an average of 19 people was admitted per day.
The number continued to decline, he said, adding that on Aug 26, 10 new admissions related to Covid-19 were reported, Aug 27 (nine), Aug 28 (seven), Aug 29 (12), Aug 30 (18), Aug 31 (nine), Sept 1 (five) and Sept 2 (eight).
According to Mohd Ekhwan, a total of 900 Covid-19 patients have been admitted to HCTM and in August alone 257 patients were treated at the hospital of which 27 of them were in the ICU.
He said HPKK helped to reduce congestions of Covid-19 patients at hospitals around the Klang Valley especially Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) and Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR), thus it had not registered any decline in Covid-19 patients' admissions.
Mohd Ekhwan said HCTM began assisting the Health Ministyr in dealing with Covid-19 cases in March last year when it was declared as a Covid-19 hospital on March 30 and was tasked to treat cases from major clusters detected in the Klang Valley including the Malayan Mansion cluster and the Tahfiz Madrasah Miftahul Ulum Seri Petaling cluster.
The teaching hospital was also selected to administer Covid-19 vaccines to UKM healthcare personnel during phase one of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme last year, he added. - Bernama