Hospitals Close to Collapse; Jakarta Urged to Add More Isolation, ICU Rooms
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18 January 2021 15:27 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) Chairman of Commission E, Iman Satria, urged the Jakarta Provincial Government to expedite the addition of intensive care units or ICUs for COVID-19 patients as hospitals across the capital were close to collapse.
The city administration was also advised to keep increasing the number of COVID-19 referral hospitals.
“We ask Jakarta to quickly anticipate a surge in the number of patients. Because it is already alarming,” said the head of the commission overseeing health when contacted on Monday, Jan. 18.
If situations became more urgent, Iman suggested Jakarta designate hotels for isolation centers. According to him, many two and three-star hotels are vacant in the wake of the pandemic.
“We see that our hospitals are on the verge of collapse. Because they already exceed the threshold with occupancy rates of over 85 percent. So we need to anticipate it by adding more isolation places,” he remarked.
Imam expressed concerns that if Jakarta were late to take action, the death rate caused by COVID-19 would potentially increase since patients could not receive proper medical treatment. “We do not want this uncontrollable situation to happen,” he said.
Read: Healthcare Services in Dire Straits: Laporcovid-19
IMAM HAMDI
