TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, Syahrizal Syarif, reminded the Jakarta government to seriously mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic in the capital city. He said the increasing spread of the new coronavirus potentially caused a crisis in health facilities.

“Current healthcare burden is around 37,000 patients nationwide,” said Syahrizal via a short message on Friday, August 28.

He mentioned that Covid-19 patients in Jakarta and Surabaya have started having difficulties to find available beds at referral hospitals for intensive treatment.

To date, confirmed cases in Indonesia have reached more than 162,000. Of these, around 37,000 patients are still being treated at hospitals.

On Tuesday, August 25, the occupancy rate of the intensive care unit (ICU) beds at 67 referral hospitals in the city hit 71 percent of the total 483 beds, said the Jakarta Health Agency’s Head of Disease Prevention and Control.

Syahrizal estimated that the number of cases would reach over 500,000 in February next year as the country recorded high figures within a short period.

The first 50,000 cases were found within 33 days, while the second and third 50,000 cases were discovered within 33 days and 23 days, respectively.

“This situation is already chaotic and worrying,” Syahrizal said. “The implementation of health protocols is chaotic, and it is worrying since the hike in Covid-19 cases will further be a burden for health workers.”

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IMAM HAMDI