GEORGE TOWN: A field hospital with an additional capacity of 100 beds at Penang Hospital is expected to be ready in a week, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

       The Health Minister said the medical facility, which will be set up at the parking lot of Penang Hospital, will be equipped with respiratory facilities, intensive care unit (ICU) equipment and others.

       "We have approved it and agreed to it in principle and if we can get it greenlighted tomorrow, it can be done within a week," he said after visiting Penang Hospital on Saturday (Sept 11).

       He said the decision to build a field hospital in Penang Hospital was made after the hospital reached its critical capacity due to an increase of Covid-19 cases.

       He said the ministry and the army have visited the proposed site to build the field hospital and will expedite efforts to cope with the rising cases at Penang Hospital.

       In another development, he said that the ministry will discuss with private hospitals in the state regarding the proposal to rent operating theatres in private hospitals in the state, so that doctors in the public health services sector in Penang can perform high-risk surgery there.

       He said this is due to the lack of operating room facilities in government hospitals around Penang, which are currently operating at full capacity, following the increase in critical cases among Covid-19 patients.