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Jakarta to require all COVID-19 patients to be quarantined in hospitals
Under the new regulation, self-quarantine will no longer be an option for COVID-19 patients regardless of whether or not they exhibit coronavirus symptoms, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said.
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A person opens a window in the former athletes village in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, which has been converted into an emergency COVID-19 hospital, on March 19. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
T
he Jakarta administration is set to issue a policy that will require COVID-19 patients in the capital to be quarantined at coronavirus referral centers, including the emergency hospital at the Kemayoran former athletes village in Central Jakarta.
Under the new regulation, self-quarantine will no longer be an option for COVID-19 patients regardless of whether or not they exhibit coronavirus symptoms, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said.
“All this time, those who have been urged to isolate themselves in state facilities have been those who resided in densely populated areas,” Anies said during a field inspection in Sunter, North Jakarta, on Wednesday.
“Going forward, every [COVID-19 patient] will be quarantined in state facilities so that we may be able to break the chain of infection more effectively.”
He went on to say that patients with medium or heavy symptoms would be required to check into hospitals, whereas those with light symptoms or no symptoms at all would be isolated at the athletes village.
“Alhamdulillah [Thank God] we have prepared everything together,” Anies added.
Anies went on to say that the regulation was a response to the lack of discipline among self-quarantining individuals who occasionally failed to abide by the existing health protocols.
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Furthermore, some patients have found themselves unable to self-quarantine properly since they share their house with other family members, he said.
“So, the [Jakarta] administration is currently drafting [the regulation],” Anies said. “Those exposed to the virus are required to isolate themselves.”
Jakarta -- home to some 10 million people and the country's virus epicenter -- has recently been grappling with the rising number of hospitalizations among COVID-19 patients.
According to the national COVID-19 task force on Monday, bed occupancy rates in isolation rooms and intensive care units (ICUs) in Jakarta had reached 69 percent and 77 percent, respectively. The current rate -- which task force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said was "no longer ideal" -- needed to drop to 60 percent to reduce the burden on healthcare workers.
Jakarta currently has 67 COVID-19 referral hospitals and 170 hospitals providing services for COVID-19 patients.
As of Wednesday, the city recorded at least 41,250 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 8,764 active cases and 1,219 deaths linked to the disease. Among the active cases, 3,341 patients are currently hospitalized.
