JOHOR BARU, May 17 — There is no need to seek the assistance of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) to set up a field hospital yet even though the occupancy rate of beds at wards and Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Johor have exceeded 90 per cent.

State Health and Environment Committee chairman, R. Vidyananthan said this was because the Covid-19 situation in Johor had not reached a critical or worrying stage and it has also obtained the aid of private hospitals in the state.

‘‘No need...the situation is still under control seeing there are also private hospitals (available),’’ he told Bernama when contacted here, today, on the Covid-19 situation in Johor.

Vidyananthan said this when asked whether bed usage in wards and ICU in government hospitals which have exceeded 90 per cent for Covid-19 patients as of yesterday warranted the government to have an MAF field hospital and special containers to meet the needs.

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Earlier, in a statement, he said that other than government hospitals, category 1 to five Covid-19 patients could opt to seek treatment at 15 private hospitals in the state.

In fact, he said category one patients could be treated at the Low Risk Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC) at Pasir Gudang Closed Stadium and private PKRC DB Complex.

Currently, he said government hospitals in Johor are still accepting non-Covid-19 patients needing any treatment as normal.

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However, all elective surgeries except for emergency and cancer-related operations had stopped since the middle of last month, he added.

On May 6, an MAF field hospital was set up in Kapit, Sarawak following a discussion between the Minister of Health (MOH) Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba with the Ministry of Defence.

He said this was to help the general public receive non-Covid-19 linked medical treatment similar to the field hospital set up in Tawau, Sabah in October last year.

Yesterday, Bernama reported that MOH was forced to provide special containers at the Sungai Buloh Forensic Department to store the bodies of Covid-19 victims.

Johor recorded 224 new cases yesterday bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state to 50,419 cases with 165 deaths.

Vidyananthan said the cumulative active clusters in the state stood at 70 clusters, namely, industry (22), community (25), institutions (16), five (detainees) and supermarket (two). — Bernama