Is Jakarta Ready When COVID-19 Patients Continue To Increase?

JAKARTA - The number of positive patients with the corona virus or COVID-19 has increased to 172 as of Tuesday, March 17. The DKI Jakarta Province region contributed the highest number of patients.

Public policy observer from Trisakti University, Trubus Rahadiansyah, believes that the existing facilities and services in Jakarta are not yet able to deal with the surge in positive corona patients.

"(Jakarta) can't afford it, if suddenly there are so many (COVID-19 patients). This means that if the sufferer rate is high and it increases sharply I don't think it is strong. We are not ready to face that. In policy, maybe we can but in practice implementation that must be seen," Trubus said to VOI by telephone, Tuesday, March 17.

Therefore, according to him, there must be some effective steps taken by the government in order to anticipate a surge in patients. Moreover, this disease spreads so rapidly in society.

For example, leaders of residential areas, ranging from RT to sub-district, continue to supervise their citizens in carrying out social distancing policies, which are currently a government program to reduce the spread of the virus. Although he said, the government was late in disseminating and educating this social distancing policy.

In addition, Trubus advised the government to involve health volunteers to help educate about the dangers of COVID-19 in the community.

"Then, the most important thing is the Health Office in this case and its coordination with related parties, they must go to residents who suspect corona, so those who suspect this corona are properly handled. Pick up the ball, be proactive," he said.

The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has a COVID-19 Response Team to deal with the corona virus. This team disbanded and merged with the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling. That way, Trubus hopes that the handling of the corona virus in Jakarta can be faster.

Previously, the Governor of DKI Jakarta had prepared intensively for medical personnel who handled corona virus patients, patients under surveillance, and people under monitoring. The DKI Provincial Government will also provide intensive care for those who repatriate positive patients or suspect corona who have died. Intensive given Rp. 215 thousand per day. This money is given every day during the handling of the corona outbreak.

"The number of people who come to get services has increased significantly and the mental power they have to provide is quite large. Therefore, it will provide special incentives for health workers and other support personnel, who are involved in the response to the COVID-19 outbreak," he said. Anies at DKI City Hall, Central Jakarta, Monday, March 16.

Anies said, this money is the maximum amount that can be given by each hospital. This is in line with the Minister of Finance Regulation Number 78 of 2019 regarding the standard cost of input in 2020.

Anies realized that their task was quite heavy. They are at the forefront of handling coronavirus and the people most at risk of exposure. In fact, until now there have been recorded nurses with the status of suspect corona who died.

"They are not only tough on the task, but they are the people most at risk of being exposed. Even as we said yesterday, some are exposed to COVID-19," he added.

Previously reported, the central government said DKI Jakarta was the area with the largest number of COVID-19 patients. This happened because the area led by Anies Baswedan had a large enough border gate and quite high mobility.

Apart from DKI Jakarta, there are a number of other areas that also contribute to the number of virus patients in Indonesia. These areas include East Java, Central Java and the Riau Islands.

Based on data from kawalcovid19.id, Jakarta has recorded 47 cases to date. Furthermore, West Java has 10 cases, Central Java 6 cases, East Java 6 cases, Banten 5 COVID-19 cases.

Then for Bali, West Kalimantan, Riau Islands, North Sulawesi, and Yogyakarta each recorded one COVID-19 case. Meanwhile, for the remaining cases it is still not known which areas were identified.