Central Sulawesi Prepares 39 Referral Hospitals For Treating COVID-19 Patients

JAKARTA - Central Sulawesi has prepared approximately 39 hospitals in 13 districts/cities in the province as referral hospitals for the treatment of patients confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Temporary data as of today, the number of residents exposed to COVID-19 has increased to 311 cases, from the previous 225 cases on Thursday", said the spokesman for the Central Sulawesi Provincial Government's COVID-19 Task Force, Adiman, quoted by Antara on Friday, February 18.

He explained that the handling of COVID-19 in the province was by the instructions of the Minister of Home Affairs and Central Government regulations.

Therefore, in the prevention and handling efforts, the regions have prepared and then the instructions from the Minister of Home Affairs are in the follow-up process to be carried out by each Regional Government at the district/city level.

"As predicted by the Ministry of Health, that the third wave of COVID-19 will be in March so that is facing the threat, the Regional Government has prepared everything", Adiman said.

He said that Central Sulawesi had experience in handling the first, second, and third waves. Armed with this experience, the local government has further increased the alertness of the handling scheme.

On the one hand, the realization of COVID-19 vaccination in Central Sulawesi has reached above 85 percent, so the government's concern is not too high, because the impact of symptoms is not too severe, except for residents who have comorbidities.

Of the 39 COVID-19 referral hospitals in Central Sulawesi, the Regional Government provides approximately 628 isolation rooms with a capacity of 560 beds.

"Private hospitals have also been folded for handling COVID-19 patients. Based on the results of the Task Force assessment, the residents who died from COVID-19 were those with high comorbidities. This means that the Central Sulawesi Provincial Government has carried out treatment according to regulatory policies. And currently, Central Sulawesi is in PPKM level 3", said Adiman.

In the policy of limiting community activities, the Central Sulawesi Provincial Government is also still providing leeway for the community to carry out economic activities.

"In the current situation, health care is still a priority guideline by implementing the 5M pattern. The Governor of Central Sulawesi also appealed to regents/mayors to immediately reactivate the COVID-19 Task Force", Adiman said.