Anticipating Extraordinary Events, South Sumatra Is Ready To Add ICU Rooms For COVID-19 Referral Hospitals

JAKARTA - The South Sumatra Provincial Government is ready to add intensive care unit (ICU) facilities at the COVID-19 referral hospital to anticipate extraordinary events.

South Sumatra Governor Herman Deru said the provincial government would allocate a budget in the budget recofussing program related to the handling of COVID-19.

"The provincial government is ready to build this ICU so that it will be ready soon, if necessary, refocus the existing funds," said Herman in Palembang, as reported by Antara, Friday, August 6.

The administrator of the All-Indonesian Hospital Association (Persi) of South Sumatra Province, Bambang Eko Sunaryanto, said that the addition of complete health facilities and infrastructure, especially at the COVID-19 referral hospital, was an urgent need at this time.

"Starting from adding medicines, increasing ICU capacity and meeting the patient's oxygen needs, this is really needed at this time," he said. Meanwhile, the death toll from COVID-19 in South Sumatra reached 2,246 people on Friday, August 6 or increased if compared to the previous two days, which was 2,207 (up 4.0 percent).

This case is in line with the increase in the number of positive confirmed cases of COVID-19 which recorded a fluctuating increase of 71 people per day with a cumulative number of 786 people from each district/city.

The majority of COVID-19 survivors who died were in the 55-69 year age range, reaching 1,058 cases or 47.9 percent.