KOTA KINABALU, Nov 15 — There were no plans to build an additional hospital to accommodate Covid-19 patients in Sabah, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

Replying to Api Api assemblyman Datuk Christina Liew during the State Assembly sitting today, Hajiji said that there were currently enough hospitals as well as temporary quarantine and treatment centres for Covid-19 patients.

“Presently, there are 11 government hospitals which have now become Covid-19 treatment hospitals to treat Stage 3 to Stage 5 Covid-19 cases,” he said.

He was referring to Queen Elizabeth Hospital I, Sabah Women and Children’s Hospital, Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan, Tawau Hospital, Lahad Datu Hospital, Keningau Hospital, Kota Marudu Hospital, Kudat Hospital, Semporna Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital II and Tambunan Hospital.

“To handle Covid-19 Stage 1 and 2 cases, we have opened 35 Covid quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC). The State Health Department, District/Area Health Office, District Disaster Operations Control Centre (PKOB) and PKOB Sabah have identified halls or places that are suitable for use as PKRC,” he said.

Hajiji, who is also the state finance minister, said that the Hospital Medan in Tawau was built with the cooperation of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) to handle cases in Tawau.

Liew had asked whether the government intended to build an additional hospital in view of the daily three-digit surge in Covid-19 cases since a month ago as Sabah has been hard-hit by the pandemic.

Sabah recorded 23,095 positive cases so far, of which 2,404 are still active. There have been 171 deaths so far.

As of November 15 this year, some 12 localities in Sabah have been placed under EMCO.

According to Hajiji, a total of 542,523 tests by RT-PCR and Antigen Rapid Test Kit had been taken between February 1 and November 15. Another 3,755 were still pending.

Hajiji said the government through the Health Ministry has taken the necessary steps to reduce the number of samples in laboratories.

“The samples are processed at three laboratories, namely the Kota Kinabalu Public Health Laboratory, UMS Laboratory and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Laboratory with a testing capacity of 2,700 samples a day. We also do outsourcing to private laboratories in Sabah,” he said.

He said samples were sent to the Public Health Laboratory (MKAK) at Sungai Buluh, Selangor and Institute for Medical Research Setia Alam, using the TUDM mercy flight two to three times a week and through Pos Laju.

“The test results are obtained within 72 hours upon receipt. Besides, there is outsourcing to private laboratories in Peninsular Malaysia,” he added.