Soaring COVID-19 Cases Make Referral Hospital In Surabaya Nearly Full, Risma: First Stop Outside The City

Mayor of Surabaya Tri Rismaharini (DOK. City Government of Surabaya)

SURABAYA - COVID-19 cases in Surabaya, East Java, have increased again. The impact is that the COVID-19 referral hospital in Surabaya is almost full.

The Mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini, said that based on the results of the tracing carried out by the Surabaya City Government, currently most of those who were exposed to COVID-19 were from outside the city. Therefore, Risma hopes that this year-end holiday while residents do not travel out of town if not for important purposes.

"That's why I tell you for a while if you don't have to leave the city first," said Risma, Sunday, December 20.

Moreover, he said, currently a number of COVID-19 referral hospitals in Surabaya are almost full, some are even full. The average patient who is there is exposed after traveling from out of town. "The Husada Utama Hospital is still more or less 100 (bad), then Soewandi Hospital is full. In several other hospitals the capacity is around 10-20 percent," he said.

Although the capacity of the isolation room at the Hajj Dormitory Hotel is empty, the Mayor of Risma has not decided to use it for patients with symptoms. Currently all residents who are exposed to COVID-19 accompanied by symptoms are immediately referred to the hospital.

"The Hajj Dormitory Hotel is actually still empty but we dare not even though he has symptoms. Now we all refer to the hospital," he said.

The plan is that Risma will coordinate with the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI). This discussion was considered important to obtain input regarding the use of the Hajj Dormitory Hotel (HAH) for Covid-19 patients with symptoms.

"I try, maybe I will discuss with IDI how we can be assisted with backups of the Hajj Dormitory. So that if the symptoms are mild it might be possible at the Hajj Dormitory Hotel," he explained.

Risma hopes that residents will improve the discipline of health protocols again. He did not want any Surabaya residents to be exposed and had to be hospitalized.

"I remind you again, not only so you don't go on vacation (out of town) but if you come home from work (from out of town), you can immediately swab there for a long time," he concluded.