Ahok: No Need for Dengue Fever Emergency Status for Jakarta
15 February 2016 22:34 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama said that the City of Jakarta has yet to declare a state of Dengue Fever Emergency - despite the continuously increasing number of Dengue Fever patients - because the number of patients is still below the figure recorded in 2015.
"There's no need as the number is still significantly lower than last year's," said Ahok on Monday, February 15, 2016.
Previously last week, the Head of Jakarta's Health Agency, Koesmedi Priharto, said that he is optimistic that the City will be able to manage and mitigate the issue of Dengue Fever, although he did say that the number of patients are slowly approaching a figure that qualifies for an emergency status.
According to Koesmedi, his agency is optimistic as there are still many beds available across hospitals in the capital. "As such, we are ready if there is a sudden spike in the number of patients," he said at the City Hall on Friday, February 5, 2016.
According to figures released by Jakarta's Health Agency, as of January 2016, the number of Dengue Fever patients have reached 611. Last year, continued Koesmedi, the figure was at least 30 percent higher.
In order to anticipate an epidemic, Jakarta's administration have taken a number of steps - including adding the number of beds in intensive care units (ICUs) across the capital. "We have added around 2,000 beds in 2016," said Koesmedi.
The Agency has also created a hotline, from which residents who are concerned about a possible epidemic could put in a request for a routine fogging - a service that runs parallel to the city's QLUE application. "The hotline could be reached at 082210008683," finished Koesmedi.
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