KOTA KINABALU: A total of 252 deaths have been recorded in Sabah over the past nine days as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to put pressure on health frontliners as well as medical facilities across the state.
Kota Kinabalu and its surrounding districts of Penampang, Tuaran, Putatan and Papar continue to have the highest number of cases, contributing to the congestion at the state’s main general hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1.
According to sources, intensive care unit (ICU) beds at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 were full, with patients needing ICU treatment having to wait at an extended “makeshift area” – known as the QEH tunnel – of the Emergency Unit.
Working in shifts of up to 32 hours, medical staff are maximising the use of the limited number of ventilators as high flow oxygen machines, but on patients with better chances of beating the viral infection, according to sources.
From Aug 23-31, there were 25,887 new Covid-19 cases, with little sign of the numbers going down in the near future. The cumulative total of deaths since last year is 1,177.
According to statistics, Sabah cases averaged about 2,500 daily, crossing the 3,000 mark for four days in a row from Aug 24-27 before dipping back to below 3,000 per day.
Public health experts here initially expected Covid-19 numbers in the state to make a turn for the better from October, but with the emergence of the Delta variant – though not as dominant here as it is in Sarawak – they are looking at a much later date.
Based on data from Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday, Sabah has recorded five new Delta cases, bringing the total detected in the state to nine.
According to experts, Sabah is lagging behind other states in its vaccination drive that has only begun to pick up in recent weeks, with some 40% of the targeted 2.84 million adult population fully vaccinated. Only 56% have completed their first dose.
Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor had said that the state expected 60% of its adult population to be fully vaccinated by October.
However, health experts here explain that Sabah will still be far from reaching the 80% herd immunity needed as a safety net.
They added that the high Covid-19 numbers here were also due to the backlog in PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing results, especially in outstation areas where it can take more than a week for results to be returned.
The Sabah Health Department has in recent weeks farmed out testing to private labs, which helped clear most of the backlog by the end of August. Experts say that the backlog has contributed to the delay in the treatment of Covid-19 patients, causing the spread of the virus as well as creating congestion at hospitals.
They say public apathy remains worrisome, adding that everyone must not take the disease lightly, for example by continuing with social and family gatherings.