Pulau Galang Hospital Operated April 6 And Hopefully Will Not Treat COVID-19 Patients

Hospital on Galang Island (Photo: Ministry of PUPR documentation)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo visited Galang Island, Batam, Riau Islands to visit the Emergency Hospital for handling the corona virus or COVID-19. According to Jokowi, this hospital will be operated in the next few days.

"A maximum of Monday (April 6) can be operated. Indeed, there is a delay of three to four days because there is material transportation that is hampered by weather," said Jokowi after a visit to Galang Island, Batam, Riau Islands, Wednesday, April 1.

Jokowi said that this hospital was indeed planned and prepared to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he hopes that this emergency hospital with a capacity of 360 patients does not need to be used.

"We hope this is not used," he said.

"But we also have to know at this time, every day there is the mobility of Indonesian workers who come from Malaysia back and forth. This must be controlled, must be monitored and checked so that everything is clean and does not bring the corona into the village," added the former governor of DKI Jakarta. .

This kind of hope has been conveyed by President Jokowi when he visited the COVID-19 Emergency Hospital, Wisma Atlet Kemayoran, Jakarta some time ago. At that time, he hoped that the COVID-19 Emergency Hospital would not be used because the COVID-19 referral hospital in Jakarta was still able to accommodate patients.

However, until Wednesday, April 1 at 08.00 WIB, there were 428 patients treated at Wisma Atlet, consisting of 105 positive COVID-19 patients, 81 people under surveillance (ODP) and 242 patients under surveillance (PDP).

Continuing, Jokowi explained, this emergency hospital on Galang Island consists of two zones with an area of around 16 hectares which will be used as a special hospital for infectious diseases if the spread of COVID-19 ends.

"If everything is finished, we will divert it to other uses. The plan is for an infectious disease hospital and disease research," he said.

Since the spread of the corona virus occurred in Indonesia, the government has stepped on the gas to build a COVID-19 Emergency Hospital on Galang Island. This development utilizes state assets that were previously built by The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as a refugee camp from Vietnam.

This hospital will be equipped with various other facilities, such as a radiology room, a pharmacy room, nutrition room, laundry and incinerators or waste management. There are about 1,000 beds and 50 isolation rooms, although currently only 360 beds and 20 negative pressure isolation rooms are available.