On Sunday, Indonesia logged another day of more than 6,000 new cases, contributing to a cumulative 617,820 confirmed cases, which includes 505,836 recoveries and 18,819 fatalities.

Wahidin Sudirohusodo General Hospital (RSWS) Makassar chief Khalid Saleh said the hospital was treating 74 COVID-19 patients as of Sunday, while 1,912 had so far been discharged.

He went on to say that the hospital had added room capacity to treat COVID-19 patients along the way, by building infectious diseases centers on the second and third floor of the establishment. The hospital has also been using one ward on the first floor and an area in the emergency unit as isolation facilities, providing a total of 147 beds.

In general, the RSWS now has a better workflow in managing COVID-19 patients. 

At the beginning of the pandemic, however, the hospital had trouble delivering services due to the lack of an integrated system for patient management, revealed Khalid.

Read also: Indonesia prepared to add hospital rooms in case of COVID-19 infection surge

At the time, the hospital had failed to screen some people suspected to have COVID-19 at the intensive care unit, while it also faced a shortage in protective suits for its staff, he added.

“Without a proper COVID-19 response management, hospitals will become sources of infection for medical staff. Therefore, if a hospital is not running under proper [management], it will not be able to treat COVID-19 patients,” said Khalid during a webinar on Sunday as quoted by kompas.id. 

He added that, with the increase in coronavirus patients, most hospitals had seen a decline in revenue, causing more trouble in the form of poor cash flow, which in the worst-case scenario could lead to them stopping their operations altogether. 

Such a situation forced hospitals to immediately respond to the new normal, said Khalid.

The response includes reorganizing hospital services, applying the right strategy to identify profitable services, reschedule payments to third parties, count costly expenses and utilize technology for socialization and promotion.

“Hospitals need to fully understand the situation that we are facing and prepare their organizations, material and technology. Optimize your response plans, make your management system control infection in the hospital, and reorganize your work shifts to support your main services,” said Khalid.

Read also: Bed capacity for COVID-19 patients in Bandung almost 90% full

Meanwhile, the deputy head of the Research and Technology Ministry’s Eijkman Molecular Biology Institution, David Handojo Muljono, said several guidelines distinguished four categories in COVID-19 handling.

The categories are antivirus, immunology-based therapy, immunomodulator and adjuvant therapy.

The antivirus strategy pertains to the administration of investigational drugs such as remdevisir, lopinavir or ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. These drugs, however, to be given out in a trial set-up.

There are two approaches to immunology-based therapy: passive and active immunotherapy. Passive immunotherapy includes the use of plasma konvalesen and stem cells, while active immunotherapy includes vaccination. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 60 vaccines are registered and are in trials in 41 countries. Of all the registered vaccines, Pfizer, Sputnik V and Sinopharm have passed all trial stages and received authorization for emergency use. (nkn)

Editor’s note: This article is part of a public campaign by the COVID-19 task force to raise people’s awareness about the pandemic.