KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Health Director-General Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah today confirmed that two nurses posted in Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, have tested positive for Covid-19.
Dr Noor Hisham pointed out that investigations are currently underway to determine if the nurses were infected with the disease while on duty within the hospital or through community transmission.
“There was one nurse who had symptoms and was tested, and it was positive, and then a colleague was tested and was also positive.
“We have screened all our medical officers and nurses in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) there on October 9, and to date there are only two cases detected positive,” said Dr Noor Hisham during his live press conference from his home as he serves out his home quarantine.
“We are currently investigating whether the cases contracted the infection in the community or in our hospitals,” he added.
However, he did not comment on whether the hospital’s ICU section was effectively crippled from suspected close contacts serving their quarantine, as reported by Malaysiakini earlier today.
Dr Noor Hisham said that in total, some 198 healthcare workers based in Sabah have caught Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, with 85 recorded just in October, and 68 cases in September.
Nationwide, he said a total of 579 healthcare workers have been infected with Covid-19 since the emergence of the pandemic.
The Malaysiakini report had claimed that the ICU section of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital was effectively crippled after 40 out of the 66 nurses deployed there had to undergo quarantine following a positive case
This had apparently caused the remaining workers of the ICU wards to become overloaded.
Citing sources from the hospital, the report said that the staff member was believed to have contracted infection from the community before going to work.
