Optimizing Hospital Services

After two people were confirmed positive for COVID-19, the government moved faster to deal with the disease. A policy for migrants from Iran, Italy and South Korea will be applied.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Electronic graphics related to COVID-19 are displayed as the spokesman for COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, discloses the latest developments in the COVID-19 cases in Indonesia and the world to reporters at the COVID-19 Integrated Information Center, Presidential Staff Office, Jakarta, Thursday (5/3/2020).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — With the finding of two confirmed cases of COVID-19, it is possible for other cases to emerge in Indonesia. Therefore, Indonesia\'s preparedness to deal with this disease should be improved due to the difficulty to detect it because the symptoms are not specific. The capacity for handling patients in hospitals and laboratories must be strengthened.

In addition, the Foreign Ministry on Thursday (05/03/2020) also announced that, starting March 8, there will be a policy in place for migrants from Iran, Italy and South Korea. This step was taken because in those three countries there were significant increases in cases of COVID-19.

The policy includes a ban on entry and transit to Indonesia for migrants who in the last 14 days traveled in a number of regions in those three countries. The regions are Tehran, Qom and Gilan in Iran; Lombardi, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Marche and Piedmont in Italy; and the city of Daegu and Gyeongsangbudo in South Korea.

There is no similar way to prevent and control the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

In addition, all visitors from Iran, Italy and South Korea from outside the above regions must also present a healthy affidavit shown to the airline at check-in. Before landing, they are also required to fill out a health alert card prepared by the Health Ministry.

Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) chairman Daeng M Faqih said the government really needed to expand screening upon entry into the country.

"There is no similar way to prevent and control the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, what China and Singapore do can be imitated, namely locking down areas where human-to-human transmission occurs and actively tracking those who have been in contact with COVID-19 patients," said World Health Organization (WHO) representative for Indonesia N. Paranietharan. The rapid spread of new coronavirus cases in Italy, South Korea and Iran occurred in just 10 to 14 days.

Also read : Tightening Covid-19 Epidemic Control

AFP/JUNG YEON-JE

South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a shopping district in Seoul on March 4, 2020.

Hospital readiness

The Health Ministry’s Disease Prevention and Control Directorate secretary, Achmad Yurianto, who is also a government spokesperson for COVID-19, said the government re-checked the readiness of the reference hospitals for potentially infectious diseases. "Some are ready and some are not ready. The variables include their SOP [standard operational procedure] are missing or not renewed, the medical personnel have retired or moved, so training [for new personnel] needs to be re-established. The equipment must also be repaired, for example the vacuum at the isolation room is not functioning," he said.

The facilities for COVID-19 specimen testing also expanded to 10 locations. In addition to the Health Ministry Health Research and Development Agency (Balitbangkes), the specimen testing can also be carried out at four centers for environmental health engineering and disease control (BBT-KLPP) in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Banjarbaru, as well as six centers for environmental health and disease control engineering in Batam, Medan, Palembang, Makassar, Manado and Ambon.

Also read : Flights and COVID-19

As of yesterday, the samples of suspected COVID-19 patients in a number of areas, such as Yogyakarta and Pontianak, were still sent to Balitbangkes in Jakarta. The sample testing for suspected COVID-19 patients at Sardjito General Hospital in Yogyakarta was conducted at Balitbangkes in Jakarta because the BBTKLPP laboratory in Yogyakarta did not yet have a reagent. Some hospitals have also only just prepared isolation rooms, like in Jayapura.

Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said President Joko Widodo had asked Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto to involve qualified private hospitals in dealing with COVID-19. "It is recommended that all hospitals, even if thy are not referral hospitals, should be prepared so that if they receive a suspected patient with COVID-19, they can handle it well before the patient is sent to a referral hospital," he said.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

The spokesman for handling the spread of COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, discloses the latest developments in the COVID-19 cases in Indonesia and the world to reporters at the COVID-19 Integrated Information Center, Presidential Staff Office, Jakarta, Thursday (05/03/2020).

Muhammadiyah, for example, prepared 15 hospitals to receive patients under monitoring. Therefore, the hospital not only prepared an isolation room, but also conducted a simulation procedure for handling patients suspected of having COVID-19.

The health minister was also asked to intensively trace individuals who had come into contact with COVID-19 patients.

After doing the tracing, Yurianto said the authority found 14 individuals who came into contact with a patient identified only as Case 1. Meanwhile, 11 individuals in Batam who came into contact with COVID-19 patients from Singapore tested negative for COVID-19. A total of 11 Balinese who came into contact with Japanese tourists also tested negative.

As of Wednesday, as many as 156 samples of patients from 35 hospitals in 23 provinces are examined using the PCR method, also known as the rapid test. There are two positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia. The condition of the two patients has improved.

KOMPAS/MACHRADIN WAHYUDI RITONGA

Officers of the West Java COVID-19 Information and Coordination Center monitor information and reports in the media related to the novel coronavirus in Gedung Sate, Bandung, West Java, on Wednesday (4/3/2020).

In a number of areas, the number of patients suspected of having the disease has continued to increase, such as Makassar, Pontianak, Yogyakarta, Sidoarjo, Jayapura and Pemalang. In Jayapura, 59 people were monitored. Meanwhile, in Sidoarjo regency, East Java, 316 people are at risk of getting the coronavirus.

The rapid test (PCR), according to Yurianto, was only applied to patients under monitoring who were in contact with COVID-19 patients. There are no plans to expand the application of the PCR. The stock of reagents (chemical substance) is sufficient. According to Muhadjir, medical personnel at hospitals were generally able to retrieve COVID-19 samples.

Regarding the handling protocol, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said the Health Ministry had already given out technical instructions, but they were too complicated so they were simplified. After the protocol is completed, the government will disseminate information to various institutions.

Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) chairman Jusuf Kalla said the PMI prepared thousands of PMI volunteers in eight regions to deal with the virus.

(INA/INK/ATK/TAN/ REN/FLO/ESA/HRS/XTI)