Strengthening Protection for Healthcare Personnel

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Activities of health workers after checking the health of Covid-19 patients at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium Emergency Hospital in Bekasi City, West Java, Thursday (10/2/2022). A total of 13 Covid-19 patients were treated to undergo isolation at the stadium. Amid the ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases, an increasing number of health workers have been infected.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Amid the ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases, an increasing number of health workers have been infected. The majority of the afflicted health workers have no or mild symptoms. Nevertheless, one doctor who was a confirmed Covid-19 case in Bogor, West Java, has died.

“Many more doctors have been infected with Covid-19,” mitigation team chairman Adib Khumaedi of the Indonesian Medical Association executive board (PB IDI) said on Thursday (10/2/2022) in Jakarta. Healthcare workers were expected to be even more vigilant, as the spike in cases meant the risk of infection was higher.

Jagaddhito Probokusumo, the resident assistance coordinator of the PB IDI mitigation team, said that 3.8 percent (521 out of 13,631) of specialist interns, or doctors in the specialist doctor education program (PPDS), had tested positive for Covid-19. They were scattered across several regions, with the majority of doctors, or 175 doctors, working in Jakarta.

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According to Zubairi Djoerban, the chairman of the PB IDI Covid-19 control task force, a high number of health workers across Jakarta’s hospitals had contracted Covid-19. According to data from the Health Ministry, medical examinations from 30 Jan. to 5 Feb. 2022 for 9,161 staff members at 34 vertical hospitals providing Covid-19 treatment found that 9 percent returned positive test results.

Zubairi added that the positivity ratio for Covid-19 among health workers at Fatmawati Central General Hospital was 41 percent, at Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital 40 percent, Harapan Kita National Cardiology Center 39 percent, Rotinsulu Lung Hospital 40 percent, Radjiman Lawang Psychiatric Hospital 50 percent and 63 percent at the Indonesia Drug Dependence Hospital.

KOMPAS

As of Saturday (29/1/2022), the number of Covid-19 patients at the Sulianti Saroso Hospital, North Jakarta, was recorded at 59 patients, 41 of whom were infected with the Omicron variant..

Adib revealed that most of the health workers with Covid-19 had mild or no symptoms. “However, a pediatrician in Bogor aged 80 died from heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and Covid-19 two days ago,” he said.

Although it caused milder symptoms compared to Delta, the Omicron variant was still dangerous, especially for people who were not fully vaccinated, have comorbidities or were elderly. “The majority of health workers have received their booster doses, more than 90 percent,” he added.

Screening

Health services director general Abdul Kadir of the Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the surge in Covid-19 cases should be closely monitored. The number of Covid-19 cases at the peak of the ongoing third wave was expected to be 3-5 times higher than the peak figure of the Delta wave last year.

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Patients with mild or no symptoms could self-isolate at home or stay at a centralized isolation facility and use telemedicine. This way, hospitals could focus on handling patients with moderate, severe and critical symptoms to avoid overburdening health workers. “Hospitals are obligated to screen for Covid-19 among their frontline health workers. So far, the positivity rate among health workers at the hospitals managed by the Health Ministry is 10 percent,” said Kadir.

The provision of temporary accommodation to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission among health workers was important. Most of the health workers who tested positive for Covid-19 were infected outside their hospitals, from family members, during travel and public places.

This article is translated by Aris Prawira.