TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Riau provincial administration provided an allowance of Rp2 million per day for each medical worker who treats patients contracting the novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19.

“They will be given an incentive of Rp2 million per day,” said the Secretary of Riau administration, Yan Praya Jaya, in a written statement in Pekanbaru on Wednesday, April 8.

Thus, a medical staffer can earn a total of Rp60 million excluding salary should he or she handle patients with the new coronavirus for a full month. The allowance was given since they are at great risk of getting infected. In Indonesia, hundreds of people have succumbed to the illness.

Additionally, the Riau administration provided temporary homes for the medics at Aryaduta Hotel in Pekanbaru with as many as 100 rooms.

The government had also tapped 44 hospitals across regencies and cities as referral hospitals to handle the cases. As of date, there has been no report of medics in Riau infected with the virus.

Based on Riau Health Office data until April 7, there are 12 positive cases in the province. Only one patient has been declared healthy and discharged from the hospital.

The patient number 12 was allegedly infected on the island as they had no travel history to areas with COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, 11 other patients were classified as imported cases since two of them had visited Malaysia, while the rest had traveled to affected areas such as Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bogor.

ANTARA