Minister of Health Terawan Asks the Local Government to Build a Field Hospital if Needed

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –

Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto appealed to regions to prepare for the establishment of field hospitals (RS) or Emergency Hospitals to face a potential spike in cases corona virus.

According to him, this scenario is needed in a very needed condition, while reducing the burden of care at the Covid-19 referral hospital.

“We urge regions to appoint a hospital that specifically treats Covid-19 and if it is urgently needed they can build a Field Hospital or Emergency Hospital to treat Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms to reduce the burden of care at the Covid-19 Referral Hospital,” said Terawaan written statement, Saturday (19/9).

However, the Ministry of Health has confirmed that until now the availability of isolation rooms and ICUs in the eight priority provinces for handling Covid-19 are still ready to accommodate.

Terawan claims that his party continues to conduct daily monitoring of the occupancy ratio of isolation rooms and ICUs in hospitals throughout Indonesia, including in several regional hospitals that have experienced a surge in Covid-19 patients.

“For now, the availability of treatment rooms is still sufficient,” said Terawan.

Terawan said that the occupancy of isolation rooms and ICUs in Indonesia was 39.8 percent as of September 17, 2020. Meanwhile, the utilization ratio for the Covid-19 Referral Hospital in Jakarta was 78 percent, West Java 51 percent, Central Java 36 percent, East Java 45 percent, Banten 75 percent, Bali 63 percent, South Sulawesi 22 percent, and North Sumatra 42 percent.

Apart from hospitals, the Ministry of Health also ensures laboratory readiness. Currently, there are 343 laboratory for examining Covid-19 specimens spread across 34 provinces.

In 8 priority provinces, there are 223 examination laboratories or 65 percent of the total laboratories in Indonesia. In details, DKI Jakarta has 52 labs, West Java 39 labs, Central Java 23 labs, East Java 49 labs, North Sumatra 15 labs, South Sulawesi 19 labs, South Kalimantan 11 labs, and Papua 10 labs.

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Health, the average daily specimen examination in the eight provinces was 26,722.

As of today, the daily data of the Covid-19 Handling Task Force recorded an additional 4,168 new cases. This addition is the highest during the seven months the pandemic took place in Indonesia.

(mln / ain)

[Gambas:Video CNN]

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