According to the Covid-19 Task Force, the new cases were mostly found in Jakarta with 13,379 cases, West Java (7,690 cases), Banten (4,370 cases), Bali (1,789 cases), and East Java (1,679 cases).
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Kompas Team
·4 minutes read
Kompas/Priyombodo (PRI)
Health workers wearing hazmat clothes get off the ambulance to report to the guard at the entrance to the Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, Monday (17/1/2022).
A large wave of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia is in sight. Regional preparedness for centralized isolation facilities is crucial to accommodating asymptomatic and mild symptomatic patients in order to avoid collapse in health services.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia seems unstoppable. The number increased by 32,211 cases on Friday (4/2/2022), up 107 times more than the previous month’s 299 new cases. Therefore, local governments have been told to activate a centralized isolation area in order to reduce the burden on health facilities.
According to the Covid-19 Task Force, the new cases were mostly found in Jakarta with 13,379 cases, West Java (7,690 cases), Banten (4,370 cases), Bali (1,789 cases), and East Java (1,679 cases). Active cases comprise 115,275 people, the majority reported in those five provinces.
In Papua, there have been an additional 201 Covid-19 cases in the last three days. A total of 394 cases were found in Jayapura and nine other regencies. The call to provide a centralized isolation facility is based on projections that Omicron cases might peak between the end of February and early March.
"Be advised to prepare a centralized isolation facility so that health facilities are not crowded and [risk] causing fatalities," Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said in Jakarta on Thursday.
BNPB
Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito
Centralized isolation facilities are allocated for Covid-19 patients who are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and cannot self-isolate at home. The government offers self-isolation to people below 45 years old who do not have comorbidities or separate rooms for isolating, and who have access to telemedicine and other health services.
The doctors will determine whether the patient needs to be hospitalized or simply admitted to a centralized isolation facility.
Patients aged 45 years and above are referred to hospitals for follow-up examinations. The doctors will determine whether the patient needs to be hospitalized or simply admitted to a centralized isolation facility.
Wiku said that the government provided telemedicine for self-isolated patients to get free consultation and medicine services. This service can be accessed on the isoman.kemkes.go.id page. The authority of a local community health center (Puskesmas) will regularly monitor the patient's health condition. When the patient's condition worsens, the Puskesmas will refer him or her to the hospital.
KOMPAS
Busy staff at a hospital in Jakarta.
Gadjah Mada University epidemiologist Riris Andono Ahmad expressed her concern about the vulnerability of self-isolating, given that not all houses met the standards for isolation. “Obstacles may also emerge in accessing health services, should the patients be referred to [such services]. This issue has to be mapped out,” she said.
Regional vigilance
East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa said the provincial administration was preparing to anticipate a third wave of Covid-19 infections by prioritizing prevention. These efforts include optimizing tracing, testing, treating, tightening the health protocols, and accelerating vaccination.
Surabaya Education Office head Yusuf Masruh said it was considering between reverting to online learning and cutting student attendance to 25-50 percent capacity starting on Monday (7/2).
Meanwhile, Wiwiek Widayati, the head of the local tourism office, announced the temporary closure of a number of tourist attractions.
Despite the majority of Omicron cases being asymptomatic or showing only mild symptoms, he said, the variant was dangerous for vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, people with comorbidities, and the unvaccinated.
Indonesia Public Health Experts Association chair Ede Surya Darmawan said that tighter health protocols were important to reduce the rate of transmission of Covid-19. Despite the majority of Omicron cases being asymptomatic or showing only mild symptoms, he said, the variant was dangerous for vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, people with comorbidities, and the unvaccinated.
REGINA RUKMORINI
The Tidar Regional General Hospital is one of the Covid-19 referral hospitals in Magelang, Central Java.
Physician Hamzah Shatri said that the almost two-year-long pandemic had caused distress, anxiety and psychosomatic disorders among people. "This is a global problem," he told an online symposium. He heads the psychosomatic and palliative division of the internal medicine department at the University of Indonesia-Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.
He said psychosomatic disorders were characterized by the emergence of physical complaints due to emotional imbalance. (TAM/AIK/MZW/BRO/NIK/FLO)
