Hospitals brace for the storm

Mon, April 6, 2020 / 01:28 pm

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An aerial view of a COVID-19 hospital on Galang Island in Batam, Riau Islands, on March 25. 2020. The hospital is open to the public starting on April 6. Antara/Bobby
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo observes the emergency room of a new COVID-19 hospital at the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran apartment complex in Jakarta on March 23. 2020. The complex used to be an athletes village during the 2018 Asian Games. Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A
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Medical workers arrange hospital beds at a COVID-19 hospital in the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran apartment complex in Jakarta on March 23. 2020. The hospital can accommodate 3,000 patients. Antara/Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro/Pool
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An aerial view of Dr. Rasidin Regional Hospital in Kuranji, Padang, West Sumatra, which has been designated as a COVID-19 referral hospital. Antara/Iggoy el Fitra
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A medical worker prepares the isolation room of Bung Karno Regional Hospital in Surakarta, Central Java, on March 27. 2020. The hospital has dedicated its four isolation rooms for COVID-19 patients. Antara/Mohammad Ayudha
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A student volunteer makes a bed at a low-cost apartment at the Tulungagung State Islamic Institute (IAIN) in Tulungagung, East Java, on March 24. 2020. The institute has prepared its two apartment towers – which has a total capacity of 330 beds – to accommodate COVID-19 patients in case Dr. Iskak Tulungagung General Hospital can no longer serve patients. Antara/Destyan Sujarwoko
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Indonesian Red Cross staff prepare to sterilize Wisma Atlet Kemayoran in Jakarta on March 21. 2020 prior to the opening of the COVID-19 hospital there. JP/Seto Wardhana
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An Indonesian Red Cross worker sterilizes Wisma Atlet Kemayoran in Jakarta on March 21.2020. JP/Seto Wardhana
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The isolation ward at the COVID-19 hospital on Galang Island, Batam, Riau Islands, on April 1. 2020. JP / Fadli
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Parts of Lippo Plaza Mampang shopping mall in South Jakarta have been transformed into emergency facilities to treat COVID-19 patients in the city. JP / Seto Wardhana
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A technician installs medical equipment at Siloam Hospital inside the Lippo Plaza Mampang shopping mall in South Jakarta on April 2. 2020. -JP / Seto Wardhana

News Desk

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has started to soar, the government has rushed to build emergency hospitals to treat the patients.

In just a month, the government completed the construction of an emergency hospital on Galang Island in Batam, Riau Islands. The hospital’s site used to be a refugee camp for Vietnamese refugees from 1979 to 1996.

The hospital, which commences operations on Monday, has 410 beds, with 360 of them designated as isolation beds.

Another emergency hospital is located in Jakarta, which has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country. The government transformed Wisma Atlet Kemayoran, a former athletes village, into a hospital that can accommodate 3,000 patients. The hospital has been open to the public since March 23.

Similar initiatives have also come from local administrations and the private sector.

Padang city administration, for instance, designated Dr. Rasidin Regional Hospital in Kuranji, Padang, West Sumatera, as a referral hospital for the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Siloam Hospital Group has opened an emergency hospital in the Lippo Plaza Mampang shopping mall and apartments in South Jakarta to anticipate an increase in COVID-19 patients in the city. The hospital’s presence, however, has triggered protests by the apartment tenants on the upper floors. [yps]