Late-stage Covid cases on the rise, says health minister

The number of Covid-19 patients in categories 4 and 5 is showing an increase with 30,287 cases recorded in May compared to 6,751 cases in April, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba says.

He said the number is expected to continue increasing this month with a total of 22,857 cases recorded in the two categories as of yesterday.

According to the health ministry, patients in category 4 require supplemental oxygen while patients in category 5 are critically ill and need to be on ventilator support.

Adham also said the usage of ICU beds for treating Covid-19 patients has reached 97%.

He said this at a news conference on the development of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme with coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin today.

According to Adham, there are a total of 1,767 ICU beds nationwide including at government and military hospitals with 1,161 patients undergoing treatments, 452 of whom are on ventilator support.

Adham also said that private clinics and medical centres are required to provide detailed billings for screening services at their premises if the cost is higher than the ceiling price set by the ministry.

The government has set the ceiling price at RM150 for RT-PCR tests, RM270 for rapid molecular tests, RM60 for RTK Antigen test and RM50 for rapid antibody tests in the peninsula.

In Sabah and Sarawak, the ceiling prices are RM200 for RT-PCR tests, RM350 for rapid molecular tests, RM80 for RTK Antigen tests and RM70 for rapid antibody tests.

Adham said the public can complain to the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre or Private Medical Practice Control Section if private clinics or medical centres charge unreasonable fees for Covid-19 screening.