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JAKARTA, Nov 28 (Jakarta Post / ANN): A hospital management expert urges the government and health authorities to increase bed capacity and expand isolation facilities to anticipate a potential increase in coronavirus patients, as hospitals from Indonesia are quickly running out of space for Covid-19 patients.
Irwandy, from Hasanuddin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi, which also runs a teaching hospital, said the number of Covid-19 patients had increased over the past week.
Indonesia registered 5,418 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Saturday (Nov 28), bringing its total count to 527,999, and the death toll rose by 125 to 16,646, the Health Ministry announced.
According to the ministry, 4,527 more patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 441,983.
The coronavirus has spread to the 34 provinces of the country.
Specifically, in the last 24 hours, Jakarta registered 1,370 new cases, Central Java 1,118, East Java 453, West Java 367 and Banten 234.
“This was caused by the lack of public obedience regarding health protocols,” Irwandy was quoted as saying. kompas.com, highlighting the massive movement of people who traveled during the long holiday weekend at the end of October.
Earlier this month, the national Covid-19 task force announced that a growing number of COVID-19 hospitals were running out of beds, with almost every region in the country reporting that bed capacity in isolation wards or intensive care units (ICU) was full. .
“The highest peak of Covid-19 transmission occurred in late October and early November. We could see the impacts a week or two later, ”he said, noting that the potential health impacts of public mobility during the end-of-year holiday season in December will only become apparent at the highest local transmission rates in January. of 2021.
Irwandy explained that a precautionary approach was necessary as the public continued to neglect health protocols and travel restrictions during long vacations.
“Hospitals must also be prepared to anticipate an increase in patients, which I predict could be greater than our current situation.” he said. Central and regional governments should begin to review the capacities of local hospitals.
Meanwhile, certain regions with popular tourist destinations, such as Central Java, Greater Jakarta and Yogyakarta, need to pay special attention to anticipate an increase in daily cases and hospitalization for Covid-19.
“Especially Yogyakarta, given that hospitals (there) have reached 78% of bed capacity in November, when ideally it should be less than 60% of total capacity,” he said.
Meanwhile, hospitals should generally increase their bed capacity by 20 percent to anticipate new Covid-19 patients.
Irwandy emphasized that interregional cooperation was vital to develop an information system to share data on the availability of beds for COVID-19 patients. “Other neighboring regions could offer assistance if a region is overwhelmed by an increase in COVID-19 cases,” he said. In addition to increasing bed capacity, hospitals should also consider establishing more isolation facilities off-site to treat mild COVID-19 patients, including quarantine hotels. – The Jakarta Post / ANN
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