DPR Requests Increased Protection for COVID-19 Medics
Translator
Ricky Mohammad Nugraha
Editor
Laila Afifa
Rabu, 18 Maret 2020 18:26 WIB
Medical workers in protective suits take an elderly coronavirus patient on a stretcher into an ambulance in the emergency room of the Gemelli Hospital, in Rome, Italy, March 16, 2020. Picture taken March 16, 2020. The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen in the last 24 hours by 345 to 2,503, an increase of 16%, the Civil Protection Agency said on Tuesday. Policlinico Gemelli/Handout via REUTERS
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - House of Representatives' (DPR) health commission member Kurniasih Mufidayati revealed that medical personnel at the frontline of the battle against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are facing a shortage of self-protective equipment.
"This viral outbreak continues to spread, the number of patients that must be handled are also rising. Doctors and medical workers are in dear need amid the virus outbreak that the government has deemed a national disaster," said Mufida in a written statement on Wednesday, March 18.
Regarding the risk facing these health workers, Mufida hoped that they would not end up becoming the victims of the pandemic, even though the disease has already claimed the life of one nurse.
Moreover, Mufida asserted that the current supply of N95 face masks, medical gloves, and eye protection outweigh the demand for protective equipment.
The DPR member called for the government to balance the rising number of COVID-19 cases by mobilizing additional medical workers to help overcome the pandemic.
