BAKRI MP Yeo Bee Yin has called upon the Johor state government and Federal Government to act now before Johor becomes the next Klang Valley.
Currently, intensive care units (ICUs) in the state are running at about 85% of the total capacity and 132% of original ICU beds, which are generally of better quality, she said.
COVID-19 ICU admission, meanwhile, is 121% of total ICU bed allocated for COVID-19, ie it is taking up ICU beds meant for non-COVID-19 cases.
“Further increase in COVID-19 ICU hospitalisation will reduce the quality of care for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. Johor health care system is at the brink of collapse,” she said in a statement.
Johor’s vaccination rate, according to data provided by the Special Committee On COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV), is the second lowest in Malaysia with only 17.8% adults fully-vaccinated while 45.1% of adults have received their first dose (as at Aug 3).
High infectivity rate, low vaccination rate, arrival of the Delta variant and ICU facilities running short is a recipe for disaster if nothing is done now, she added.
Yeo urged the Johor state government and Federal Government to do the following:
- Run Operation Surge Capacity (OSC) in Johor to ramp up the vaccination programme as soon as possible (just like how the Selangor state government is working with the Federal Government to run OSC in the Klang Valley).
- Increase state health department ability in Find, Test, Trace, Isolate and Support (FTTIS). In addition, Johor state government must give instructions to all District Officers (DOs) to give full cooperation in expanding testing. Currently, elected representatives in some districts in Johor are facing problem in getting DOs support in running proactive community testing.
- Expand ICU capacity, plan and mobilize the additional human resource needed and increase the number of equipment and facilities needed for COVID-19 treatment. Do not only start sourcing for them after we hit 100% ICU capacity.
“We need urgent proactive actions from both state and Federal Government before it is too late,” Yeo concluded. – Aug 6, 2021.
