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COVID-19: Govt to convert more towers in athletes village for makeshift hospital
Khalawi said the second phase of the makeshift hospital construction was expected to increase bed capacity and provide better accommodation for staff members – including doctors and nurses – who worked around the clock to provide treatment for COVID-19 patients.
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Medical workers arrange hospital beds at a COVID-19 hospital in the athletes village apartment complex in Central Jakarta on March 23. 2020. (Antara/Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro/Pool)
T
he Public Works and Housing Ministry is set to convert three more apartment towers in the athletes village in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta into makeshift hospital buildings for COVID-19 patients to accommodate a surge in confirmed cases in the capital city.
“The ministry will prepare and renovate three additional towers – towers 2, 4 and 5 – in the Kemayoran athletes village as an emergency COVID-19 hospital,” said Khalawi Abdul Hamid, the ministry’s housing provision director general, in a statement on Wednesday.
Khalawi said the second phase of the makeshift hospital construction was expected to increase bed capacity and provide better accommodation for staff members – including doctors and nurses – who worked around the clock to provide treatment for COVID-19 patients.
Tower 2, which consists of 886 apartments, will be used to house a maximum of 2,458 health workers.
Meanwhile, towers 4 and 5 will house treatment wards for COVID-19 patients. Similarly, each tower can accommodate up to 2,458 patients in 886 apartments, Khawali added.
The first stage of the construction was completed last month, with four apartment towers – towers 1, 3, 6, and 7 – being converted into makeshift hospital buildings for COVID-19 patients.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo previously said the makeshift hospital would be ready to handle about 3,000 patients at a time.
The 10-tower athletes village was built for the 2018 Asian Games, which Jakarta co-hosted with Palembang, South Sumatra.
Khawali said the ministry also planned to convert existing treatment wards on several floors in tower 6 into intensive care units and emergency wards while the rest of the tower would be used as isolation wards for COVID-19 patients.
“We expect the construction to be completed next Saturday, April 18,” he said.
Jakarta is considered the epicenter of the outbreak in Indonesia, having recorded the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths among other 31 provinces across the archipelago.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Jakarta had recorded at least 1,470 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 114 deaths caused by the disease.
