Yogyakarta Provincial Government Will Add 800 Beds For COVID-19 Patients

YOGYAKARTA - The Provincial Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) will add 800 beds for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in field hospitals.

"Indeed, the current condition of the bed occupancy rate (BOR) in hospitals is above 95 percent, this is if there is a red, yellow, green light, it's red", said Head of the DIY Health Office, Pembajun Setyaningastutie, quoted by Antara, Thursday, July 15.

According to him, the percentage of the patient's bed utilization rate at the hospital describes the condition of 27 referral hospitals for handling COVID-1 in DIY Province.

According to government data on Thursday, July 15, the number of patients confirmed to have COVID-19 in DIY Province increased by 2,706 people to a total of 85,781 people.

To handle the increasing number of COVID-19 patients, the government plans to establish a field hospital to provide additional patient beds.

Pembajun explained that when several buildings were being prepared to become field hospitals, including the Gadjah Mada University Club Hotel UGM and Wisma Kagama (500 beds capacity) and the Ministry of Public Education and Training Center (100 beds capacity).

In addition, there are BBWS Flats with a capacity of 130 beds, Respati Campus with a capacity of 50 beds, and the UNY Dormitory which is still under investigation.

"The total is about 800 beds. The hope is that there will be no more (patients)", said Pembajun.

The supervisor said that every field hospital must have a supporting hospital.

Currently, there are only two hospitals that will manage the operation of field hospitals, namely UGM Academic Hospital which will manage Wisma Kagama and Gadjah Mada University Club Hotel UGM, and Prambanan Hospital which will manage Respati Field Hospital.

Meanwhile, the UNY Dormitory, BBWS Flats, and the Ministry of Public Education and Training Center are still looking for a supporting hospital.

"Why should there be a supporting hospital, so that this field hospital can be managed properly. If there are no supervisors and only doctors, it will be difficult to manage", said Pembajun.

He explained that the field hospital would later be devoted to treating COVID-19 patients with mild and moderate categories.

The supervisor emphasized that no matter how many beds are provided to treat COVID-19 patients, they will not be able to meet the needs if there is no awareness among the community to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

"No matter how many hospital beds are provided, it will not be able to fulfill it if there is no intervention upstream, it starts with ourselves", he said.