DPR Members Give Advice To Anies Baswedan On Handling COVID-19 In Jakarta

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission IX of the DPR RI, Charles Honoris, urged the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government to increase the number of centralized isolation areas in the areas of West Jakarta, North Jakarta, and the Thousand Islands.

According to Charles, the occupancy rate of hospital beds (Bed Occupancy Ratio/BOR) in Jakarta is expected to continue to rise given the recent developments in COVID-19 cases.

"So the government must prepare or create more centralized isolation places so that people don't need to go to the hospital when confirmed positive for COVID-19. And the hospital BOR number doesn't need to be as high as it is today," said Charles when monitoring booster vaccinations, at the Indonesian Evangelical Christian Church (GKII) Penjaringan, North Jakarta, Saturday, January 29.

According to Charles, self-isolation places are still not adequate to be applied in DKI Jakarta, especially if judging from the demographic conditions of West Jakarta and North Jakarta which have high population density levels.

There are still many residents of West Jakarta and North Jakarta who sleep in makeshift houses, close together and do not meet the requirements to be used as independent isolation rooms.

"So this, once again, the government must prepare more centralized isolation places. It can be a sports arena (GOR), it can be a hotel, such as the Wisma Atlet, it can also be a place that works with the private sector," said Charles.

If the centralized isolation area is not prepared by the government, Charles is worried that in the next few days, the BOR in Jakarta could reach 70 or 80 percent.

If that's the case, said Charles, the problem is not only the government, but also the community. The public will find it difficult to get a hospital in DKI Jakarta due to the paralysis of the health care system in hospitals for cases outside of COVID-19.

"Of course, this hinders the provision of health services for the community, it can even paralyze our health care system," said Charles.

He had previously conveyed to the Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, to involve the private sector in adding a centralized isolation area needed at this time.

"So once again, we have to prepare a centralized isolation area so that our hospitals don't become paralyzed," said Charles.