Miri Hospital: Covid-19 cases in Miri under control, only two of 10 cases today need respiratory assistance

MIRI (Dec 21): Daily Covid-19 cases here are rising but still under control and not burdening existing healthcare facilities, said Miri Hospital deputy director (Medicine) Dr Francis Heng Eng Kha.

He confirmed that as of today, 10 cases have been reported here.

“Two cases required respiratory assistance and the rest only experienced mild and stable symptoms. The management of Covid-19 here is more systematic and not as bad as two years ago,” he said when receiving wheelchairs donated by the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Piasau.

He disclosed that security personnel ensure no visitors enter the hospital’s ward for Covid-19 patients to protect the public.

On whether Miri is a Yellow Zone for Covid-19 as circulated on social media, he pointed out the public need not panic because the term was just a benchmark for the hospital in managing daily Covid-19 cases.

“If we put 10 patients in one ward and it exceeds 80 per cent capacity, it is already marked as a Red Zone. However, after we added more health facilities, the cases decrease.

“So, it is possible that the ‘Yellow Zone’ is only on certain days, and when we increased the number of beds, it changes back to Green Zone.

“Therefore, Yellow Zone or Red Zone, it is only for referrals and hospital actions. If it becomes a Yellow Zone, the hospital will plan the next things to do and if it is a Red Zone, we need to add more beds,” he explained.

Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Sebastian Ting reminded the public to remain vigilant and comply with the recommendations of the Ministry of Health.

“The use of face masks is still necessary, especially in crowded areas or where they are many people, since the cases of Covid-19 are still showing an increasing trend,” he said.

Ting, who is Piasau assemblyman, handed over 10 wheelchairs donated by SUPP Piasau to Miri Hospital for the convenience of cancer patients.