Regional Governments Need Help

Synergy in overcoming the pandemic is needed. A number of regions have experience a resurgence of COVID-19 cases and need the help of the central government and other regions to overcome it.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Covid-19 Emergency Unit activities at Dr Loekmono Hadi Hospital in Kudus Regency, Central Java, Sunday (6/6/2021). The drastic spike in Covid-19 cases has forced hundreds of positive patients to be treated at a number of hospitals in Kudus and Semarang City.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — A number of regions that are currently experiencing a resurgence of COVID-19, require assistance from the central government to provide additional health workers, medical devices and medicine to cope with the increase in new patients. The assistance is needed so that the regions can handle COVID-19 patients more optimally while preventing excessive fatigue among health workers.

Kudus Regent HM Hartopo in Central Java said the region had limited self-isolation facilities and were only able to accommodate 400 people. As a result, residents who tested positive for COVID-19 were encouraged to undergo self-isolation in their respective homes, he said.

"In providing a centralized self-isolation facility, there are still a number of problems, such as human resources, facilities and infrastructure, as well as medicine. We just arranged the funding. Next week, we hope the centralized self-isolation services can be maximized," Hartopo said at a virtual press conference on Thursday (10/6/2021).

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The same problem was conveyed by Nunuk Kristen, the head of Syarifah Ambami Rato Ebu General Hospital (RSUD) in Bangkalan, East Java. She said of the 150 beds available at the hospital, 105 beds were occupied. A number of patients had to be transferred to hospitals in other areas, such as Dr Soetomo RSUD in Surabaya, East Java, so that they could receive immediate treatment.

"The support from other hospitals, as well as the recruitment of additional health workers, is very helpful in serving COVID-19 patients in Bangkalan. This is necessary so that the existing health workers are not exhausted. Twenty-seven health workers in Bangkalan have been infected and one of them died," she said.

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Kudus and Bangkalan regencies has increased sharply. As a result, the bed occupancy rate of hospitals in the two regions has also increased. Based on data from the COVID-19 task force, as of Tuesday, the bed occupancy rate of Kudus hospitals had reached 90.2 percent.

Twenty-seven health workers in Bangkalan have been infected and one of them died.

The spike in new cases in Kudus has affected its surrounding areas, including the city of Semarang. Of the total 139 beds at the isolation room of Dr Kariadi Hospital, 117 are occupied (84.2 percent); of the 307 beds in the isolation room of KRMT Wong-Sonegoro Hospital, 281 (91.5 percent) are occupied and at the isolation facilities of the local Haj dormitory and the Semarang Mayor\'s Office 42.7 percent and 40.7 percent, respectively.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Health workers carry residents who are confirmed positive for Covid-19 on a school bus at the Kemayoran District Health Center, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (9/6/2021). A total of 29 residents who were exposed to Covid-19 departed from the puskesmas on Wednesday (9/6/2021) to undergo independent isolation at the Covid-19 Emergency Hospital Wisma Atlet Kemayoran.

The Semarang administration has rented a hotel to anticipate a further increase in bed occupancy rates in hospitals and self-isolation facilities in the city.

"This is backup for if the beds in hospitals, haj dormitories or official residences are full," said Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi.

Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono said the government had provided assistance to regions experiencing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. The assistance includes, among other measures, medical personnel and medicine. Mitigation and evaluation efforts are also being taken to improve health management in the regions, he said.

Wisma Atlet

An increase in COVID-19 cases was also recorded at the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 emergency hospital (RSDC) in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. As of Thursday (10/6), the hospital was treating 3,626 people, with the bed occupancy rate of Towers 4, 5, 6 and 7, which have a 5,994 rooms in total, reaching an average of 60.49 percent.

"Indeed, there was an increase in patients and there was an ambulance line as a result," said Marine Lieutenant Colonel and dentist M Arifin, who also serves as the hospital’s spokesperson.

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Meanwhile, on Thursday, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo witnessed the COVID-19 vaccination for public transportation and port workers at the Kampung Rambutan Terminal, East Jakarta, and Tanjung Priok Pelindo II Port, North Jakarta.

The mass vaccination drive was organized amid an increase in people’s mobility and interactions.

As many as 1,000 public transportation workers were vaccinated in the Kampung Rambutan Terminal and about 1,500 port workers in Tanjung Priok Port. (TAN/ERK/NCA/FLO/RTG/ ESA/XTI/DIT/WKM).

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.