TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Health Agency head Widyastuti said the hike in the hospital bed occupancy rate which reached 12 to 20 percent was because the agency has not yet operated all beds in hospitals.

At present, at least 140 hospitals in Jakarta are ready to provide COVID-19 treatment services.

“During the peak of the Delta variant, we operated almost 15,000 isolation beds. We have now only opened 5,000, so it has not reached the maximum capacity,” said Widyastuti at Jakarta City Hall, Wednesday, January 12.

She explained that it was done because the city government mulled reopening services for non-Covid patients as the COVID-19 case was declining.

The coordinator for the public activity restrictions (PPKM) in Java-Bali regions, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said the government will turn on a warning alarm when the hospital bed occupancy rate (BOR) hits above 20 percent.

To prevent the transmission of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Jakarta government commenced a booster vaccination program at sub-district public health centers or Puskesmas for the general public. The program is centralized through the PeduliLindungi application for people aged 18 years and over who have completed the primary vaccination course at least six months before the booster shot.

Widyastuti called on the public not to panic over the threat of the Omicron variant transmission and urged the public to be disciplined in complying with the predetermined health protocols.

Read: WHO Experts: Covid-19 Vaccines Need Updates to Protect against New Variants

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA