KAPIT, May 31 — Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri James Masing today appealed to the federal Ministry of Health to "do something” to help Kapit Hospital which is buckling under the strain of treating Covid-19 patients.

He said the hospital is running out of beds in its intensive care unit (ICU) and that its situation is becoming as grim as that faced by India.

"The frontliners, nurses and doctors in the hospital are exhausted, including the undertakers,” he said in a WhatsApp statement to Malay Mail.

"What is happening in Kapit Hospital now will soon be similar to what we see in India where hundreds died on hospital hallways.

"The only way to save Kapit and the rest of Sarawak from the devastating effects of coronavirus deadly pandemic is vaccination,” added Masing, who is also the assemblyman for Baleh, a constituency in Kapit Division.

He said the Sarawak government has funds to procure the vaccines, and urged Putrajaya to speed up the process to save human lives.

He said listening to the stories of people dying of Covid-19 was shocking.

He also disclosed that the loss hit close to home; his nephew Nicholas Kudi saw both his parents succumb to the disease.

"Listening to his ordeal watching his parents dying in Kapit hospital because of Covid-19 is a vision we can see in our nightmares,” Masing said.