Jokowi: Gotong Royong Oxygen House is Much Needed to Help COVID-19 Handling

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The recently announced Gotong Royong Oxygen House health facility initiated by KADIN Indonesia, GoTo, and Samator Group received a visit from President Joko Widodo on Saturday, July 24, 2021.

“The additional capacity can help to decrease the hospital's Bed Occupancy Rate (BOR). Once again, I truly appreciate this effort and hope this facility will not only be built and operated in Jakarta, but also in other places and provinces. We hope the facility will be running soon and can be beneficial to society,” said Jokowi in a press release.

During his visit, the President arrived at the location around 14:13 WIB and immediately saw the facilities the oxygen house had to offer. During the visit, the President was seen discussing with the Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN Indonesia), Arsjad Rasjid, and GoTo CEO Andre Soelistyo who accompanied him.

“This afternoon I saw the Rumah Oksigen Gotong Royong firsthand, which is still under construction. It will be completed next week, and fully operational possibly in early August where it can accommodate around 500 patients,” added President Jokowi during his visit.

Gotong Royong Oxygen House is the first semi-permanent health facility in Indonesia that is specially equipped with oxygen supply equipment and beds for COVID-19 patients with moderate symptoms (category 2). This facility will soon be opened in Pulogadung, East Jakarta.

The facility was initiated in a collaborative effort between KADIN Indonesia, GoTo Group, Samator Group, strategic partners, the government and the wider community to collectively face the challenges of the pandemic.

Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Arsjad Rasjid, who accompanied the President, said this was a mutual cooperation effort between industry. He hopes that similar initiatives can be realized in other cities, especially those that require additional health facilities for handling Covid-19.

"Hopefully this will be the first of many oxygen houses, in East Java, in Central Java, and many more. We hope all businesses—who I say are fighters because this is a war against the pandemic—to work together and collaborate to win the war against the pandemic," said Arsjad.

Andre Soelistyo, CEO of GoTo, said, “He (President Jokowi) asked about the concept of this facility, among other things. We explained how this oxygen house serves as an isolation place with access to oxygen supply. This means that COVID-19 patients who need oxygen can enter this facility, where they will also get medicine as well as oxygen supply.

This oxygen house is aimed to help people who need access to medical oxygen. Andre also hopes that this facility can reduce the overcrowd in hospitals in handling COVID-19 patients.

The location of Gotong Royong Oxygen House in Pulogadung is close to a number of COVID-19 referral hospitals, so their existence will complement each other. If there are any residents treated at the Oxygen House experiencing a deteriorating condition, they can be quickly sent to the nearest COVID-19 referral hospital.

Read also: Papua Hospital Purchases Oxygen Production Machine from France

ANTARA