TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Deputy Governor for Civil Registry and Settlements, Suharti, responded to complaints voiced by Covid-19 patients who were not treated at the same hospital with their family members.

Suharti said that sometimes ICU beds in a hospital have been fully occupied or only one to two are available.

“We are now prioritizing the life and safety of people. So just follow the government’s order wherever the vacant bed is,” she said during a virtual discussion held by a community group LaporCovid-19 on Thursday, September 17.

The most important thing is that patients could be treated quickly, she added. The central government also planned to increase the capacity of isolation rooms by opening up Tower 4 and 5 of the Athlete's Dormitory in Kemayoran up to 2,000 beds.

In the same discussion, the Jakarta Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) member Eneng Malianasari said Covid-19 patients from Tamansari, West Jakarta, complained of being isolated in different hospitals with their family.

Jakarta has recently recorded more than one thousand new cases of Covid-19 per day. The positivity rate even hit 15 percent, three times higher than the maximum standard of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan then decided to pull an emergency brake policy to reimpose the large-scale social restriction or PSBB for 14 days since September 14, 2020.

Read: Task Force Reveals 80% of Covid-19 Deaths Age above 45

LANI DIANA WIJAYA