1 Tower Of RSDC Wisma Atlet Is Still Operating, BNPB: We Want To Close It Immediately, Burden The Budget

RSDC Wisma Atlet Kemayoran Jakarta after one year of operation in 2021. (Nanda F-VOI)

The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) confirmed that the COVID-19 Emergency Hospital (RSDC) Wisma Atlet Kemayoran is still active as a place to isolate COVID-19 patients.

Head of BNPB Suharyanto said that the operation of the Wisma Atlet RSDC will be centered only on tower 6 to anticipate a spike in cases after the 2022 Christmas and 2023 New Year holidays.

"One tower, namely tower six, which still has four patients, we will continue to live under the TNI's Head of Health, which will operate it later. For the next three months, January-February March, hopefully, conditions will continue to be under control. there will be no spike," said Suharyanto at Graha BNPB, Jakarta, Tuesday, December 27.

Suharyanto said that currently, COVID-19 cases in Indonesia have decreased drastically. The number of beds occupied by the Wisma Atlet RSDC is currently only four people.

"Later it will be delivered for further action. It is also one of the anticipations or steps that we take if it is conveyed if the transition is made from a pandemic to an endemic," he said.

On the one hand, Suhartanto said that BNPB actually intends to stop all operations of the Wisma Atlet RSDC as of December 31, 2022, which then returns the responsibility of the building to the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR).

He explained that so far the government has spent quite a lot of money to carry out the operation of the Wisma Atlet RSDC. Not to mention the treatment of COVID-19 patients, to pay the salaries of volunteer health workers and the general public who provide treatment.

"All BNPB wants to be closed immediately. Because it burdens the budget, for efficiency. But we also want to know how the future developments will be," he added.

Furthermore, Suharyanto said that the Galang Island Special Hospital for Infection (RSKI) in Riau Islands has been operationally stopped. BNPB has returned the management of Galang Island Hospital to the Ministry of Defense.

"The Galang Hospital in Riau Islands was used to treat COVID-19 patients, even then it had been stopped by BNPB and returned to the Ministry of Defense. Now the Ministry of Defense, which manages Galang Island, of course in the future will be used for other activities that are not related to handling COVID-19 or what will be made later, we will see in the future," he said.