Health Ministry Braces for Potential Spike in COVID-19 Cases after Eid Holidays

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Health Ministry started to put forth their best to anticipate a potential spike in COVID-19 cases after Eid al-Fitr holidays. One of the efforts made is ensuring the readiness of hospital beds and oxygen tanks.

“Our task is to prepare for the worst. I hope that will not happen, but if there is an increase in virus transmission, we’d like to anticipate it so we won’t be shocked and have sufficient facilities,” said Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin in an online press conference on Monday, May 10, 2021.

Budi mentioned that 70,000 of the 390,000 beds and 7,500 of the 22,000 ICU rooms in hospitals throughout the country are prioritized for COVID-19 patients.

“The capacity of hospital beds and ICU rooms that we have are still three times higher than those provided for COVID-19 patients,” he said.

At present, 23,000 hospital beds and 2,500 ICU rooms are occupied. However, Budi reminded that the number was national data, rather than detailed data in each region. Several provinces currently still report a high occupancy rate of hospital beds, which the central and regional governments must take note of.

Eight regions with a high occupancy rate of hospital beds include North Sumatra, Riau Islands, Riau, South Sumatra, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Lampung, and East Nusa Tenggara.

Other than ensuring the availability of hospital beds and ICU rooms to anticipate a potential surge in COVID-19 cases after Eid al-Fitr holidays, Budi said his side also procured sufficient medicines and oxygen tanks.

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EGI ADYATAMA