TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - COVID-19 volunteer group LaporCovid-19 and CISDI (Center for Indonesia's Strategic Development Initiatives) on Friday said that Indonesia’s healthcare services, especially on Java Island, are in dire straits.

LaporCovid-19 volunteer Tri Maharani said the signs of the possible collapse of the healthcare services had been detected since September last year but became temporarily better during Jakarta’s large-scale social restrictions (PSBB).

“Entering the middle of November of 2020, during the simultaneous regional elections and the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, [these situations] have worsened hospitals’ inability to accommodate patients,” wrote Tri Maharani on Friday, January 15.

These situations, according to Tri, have affected the safety of public health and hampered the immediate handling of COVID-19 patients and non-coronavirus patients across the Greater Jakarta Area, West Java, Central Java, and East Java.

The volunteer group recorded 23 reports from the public about patients being denied treatment due to full hospitals. They also recorded cases of patients who died on their way to hospitals and at home after being denied treatment.

CISDI policy director Olivia Herlinda has urged the government to take drastic measures to prevent the national healthcare services from collapsing.

The CISDI member argued that the inability of policy makers to establish transparent communication with the people and provide them with sufficient healthcare services had made the people fail to recognize the gravity of the pandemic.

Read: Situations Critical; Jakarta COVID-19 Hospitals May Collapse Soon, DPRD Says

FRISKI RIANA