Malaysia: Amid rise in Covid cases, doctors might have to prioritise ICU beds for people with high recovery potential

Doctors in Malaysia will have to give preference to those who are more likely to cope with the disease when hospitalising patients to intensive care units (ICU), given the deteriorating epidemiological situation, Malaysian Health Chief Noor Hisham Abdullah said on Sunday.

"The Health Ministry has warned of possible scenarios in which doctors would have to make the difficult choice to prioritise ICU beds for patients with a high recovery potential, over patients with low recovery potential (poor prognosis)," Noor Hisham said in a press conference, as quoted by The Straits Times.

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He added that intensive care units are already filled by 104 per cent, while hospitals for common coronavirus patients - by 85 per cent.

Noor Hisham noted that the authorities are cooperating with NGOs in organising intensive care units amid the shortages of medical personnel.

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Earlier this week, the Malaysian government announced the introduction of a nationwide lockdown from June 1 to 13 as the first stage of the strategy to tackle a resurgence in coronavirus infections.

Besides, since April, the authorities have restricted travel between provinces and banned mass events and gatherings of any nature.

To date, Malaysia has registered nearly 560,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 2,650 related fatalities.