COVID-19 In Kudus Is Crazy, New Cases Increase 30 Times, More Than 90 Percent Of Beds Are Filled

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 Handling Task Force revealed that positive cases of COVID-19 in Kudus Regency, Central Java had increased more than 30 times in the past week.

"Kudus experienced a significant increase in cases this week, which rose more than 30 times, from 26 cases to 929 cases," said Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Wiku Adisasmito in a virtual press conference at Graha BNPB Jakarta, reported by Antara, Friday. , June 4th.

According to Wiku, currently active cases of COVID-19 in Kudus are 1,280 cases or 21.48 percent of the total positive cases or far above the national active figure of only 5.47 percent.

"This increase in positive cases has caused the occupancy of beds and ICU referral homes in Kudus to experience a sharp increase, even as of June 1, more than 90 percent of beds have been filled, this is a very worrying condition," added Wiku.

With these developments, the Head of the COVID-19 Task Force who is also the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Ganip Warsito and his staff visited Kudus on Wednesday (3/6)

"From the visit, it is known that this situation is the impact of religious tourism activities in the form of pilgrimages and Kupatan traditions which are carried out by the Kudus residents 7 days after Eid, this triggers crowds and increases transmission in the community," said Wiku.

This is exacerbated by the large number of health workers in Kudus who are currently suffering from COVID-19, as many as 189 people.

Hospitals in Kudus, according to Wiku, also have not strictly implemented the red, yellow and green zoning, triage of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients and their families.

"For example, there are still COVID-19 patients who are accompanied by their families who go in and out of the hospital without 'screening'. The head of the Task Force has instructed other conversions to be made into COVID-19 service beds," added Wiku.

Patients with moderate to severe symptoms are prioritized to be hospitalized, while those with mild and asymptomatic symptoms can self-isolate at home if possible.

"Or referred to the provincial capital, Semarang. In addition, as many as 450 TNI personnel were dispatched to monitor 4 micro PPKM functions in villages and sub-districts in Kudus," said Wiku.

The COVID-19 Task Force asked the local government and the Kudus district task force to limit maximum mobilization so that transmission does not spread and monitor the zoning of each region.

"What happened in Kudus can be a lesson for other regions, please the regional task force can anticipate the traditions and culture in their respective regions so that they can determine the best handling and policies so that cases do not increase sharply like in Kudus," said Wiku.

The central government through BNPB, according to Wiku, also provided assistance in the form of ready-to-use funds to Kudus district plus isolation tents, cloth masks, children's cloth masks and "hand sanitizers".