TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Ministry plans to use hotels to house medical workers
Integrated services: Medical workers from the Jakarta administration-owned Tarakan and Pasar Minggu hospitals arrive at the Grand Cempaka Business Hotel, owned by city-owned enterprise PT Jakarta Tourisindo, in Central Jakarta on Thursday
Change Size
I
ntegrated services: Medical workers from the Jakarta administration-owned Tarakan and Pasar Minggu hospitals arrive at the Grand Cempaka Business Hotel, owned by city-owned enterprise PT Jakarta Tourisindo, in Central Jakarta on Thursday.(Courtesy of the Jakarta administration)
The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry is working on a plan to cooperate with businesses in the hotel industry to help curb the spread of COVID-19.
The partnership would have hotel chains across Indonesia provide rooms for medical workers treating COVID-19 patients, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio said in an online press conference on Monday.
“Medical workers will have a proper place to rest somewhere close to their hospital.”
Wishnutama added that he had discussed the plan with the representatives of several hotels and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
The ministry is also in talks with transportation providers for another possible collaboration that would transport medical workers to and from hotels and hospitals.
Wishnutama called on businesses in tourism and the creative economy to actively participate in Indonesia’s fight against COVID-19, including by postponing events that involve mass gatherings during the ongoing emergency period.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has already provided the Grand Cempaka Hotel, which is owned by the Jakarta administration, as accommodation for medical workers who are currently responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One hundred and thirty-eight medical workers from the Tarakan Regional Hospital and Pasar Minggu Regional Hospital are slated to spend the night at the hotel. The Jakarta administration is planning to add two more hotels for accommodation.
Tourism and the creative economy have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. According to the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), the country’s overall occupancy rate has fallen below the low season average of 50 to 60 percent to 30 to 40 percent since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China in late December.
The occupancy rate in Bali has dropped to 20 percent, especially in areas visited by solo travelers such as Kuta, Sanur, Legian, Ubud and Jimbaran.
The drop in tourist visits has also affected workers at the grassroots level who rely on tourism for their daily income, such as tour guides, tour drivers and daily hotel staff.
The events industry has also taken a significant hit, with projected financial losses incurred as a result of massive cancellations and postponements amounting to between Rp 898.2 billion and Rp 2.65 trillion, according to the Indonesia Event Industry Council (Ivendo).
Some 1,200 companies are engaged in the event-organizing business.
The State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry plans to transform existing buildings into hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients, like what was done with the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran athletes village in Jakarta
“What we did in Jakarta is going to be duplicated in some other provinces,” Arya Sinulingga, an aide to SOEs Minister Erick Thohir, said on Tuesday.
He added that the policy would be implemented in Bandung, West Java; Semarang, Central Java; and Surabaya, East Java.
The ministry also plans to cooperate with the Religious Affairs Ministry to transform haj dormitories into COVID-19 hospitals, he said.
The SOEs Ministry, with the help of the Public Works and Housing Ministry, converted four apartment towers at Wisma Atlet Kemayoran into a hospital to meet the potentially increasing demand for isolation and treatment wards in the coming days.
The facility, previously used to house athletes during the 2018 Asian Games, will be able to accommodate up to 22,000 COVID-19 patients.
Scientists have warned that Indonesia could have tens of thousands of cases by April if authorities fail to take drastic measures to slow down the spread of the new coronavirus. Based on their calculations, Indonesia could be grappling with up to 71,000 COVID-19 cases by the end of April.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia tripled within a week, jumping from 172 positive diagnoses on March 17 to 686 on Tuesday. The number of deaths stands at 55, with the disease having spread to at least 22 of the country’s 34 provinces.
