Health Ministry places order for 800 new ventilators for COVID-19 treatment

KUALA LUMPUR (March 16): The Ministry of Health is ordering 800 new units of medical ventilators for treatment of critical COVID-19 cases.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said Malaysia currently has 926 units of ventilators in intensive care unit (ICU) facilities, 152 non-invasive ventilators and 142 transport ventilators.

There are also 450 medical ventilators in private hospitals, he said in a press conference today.

Ventilators are vital in the treatment of patients whose lungs have been attacked by the infection, negatively affecting their breathing. For comparison, the UK is reported to have 5,000 ventilators but government officials said it would need "many times more than that".

In terms of medical professionals, Adham assured that Malaysia has enough infectious disease epidemiologists at every state level to handle the epidemic. Malaysia currently has 135 government hospitals, nine special medical institutes, 210 private hospitals and 61,158 doctors.

Adham further said that the ministry has employed 830 new nurses on a two-year contract to be stationed in government hospitals around the country to increase the capacity of the workforce handling the COVID-19 outbreak.

The minister also said that the federal government is currently working to get the government of China to help Malaysia address the outbreak.

“We are working on that (to get China’s help). We have decided in the meeting this morning to request that there should be engagement with the government of China to help us because the outbreak in China has plateaued. And most of their equipment is in excess, and we know that they have sent help to countries like Iraq,” he said.