Boost Healthcare Facilities’ Capacity Before Easing Social Restrictions

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

A person walks into Adi Soemarmo Airport in Boyolali, Central Java, Wednesday (27/5/2020). A number of prospective passengers are still confused about the various travel requirements during the Covid-19 restrictions.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) remains a problem across regions and infection risks for medical workers are still high due to work overload, among other reasons. The government is urged to assess healthcare facilities’ preparedness and medical workers’ capacity before implementing a new normal.

“Our availability of PPE is better than last month. However, sustainability is doubtful and prices remain high, especially for N95 masks. This leads to many workers reusing [the equipment] — five times or more,” Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) deputy chair M Adib Khumaidi said in Jakarta on Wednesday (27/5/2020).

Adib said a PPE shortage was the chief complaint of medical workers in regions outside Java. The emergency room (ER) head of Daha Husada general hospital in Kediri, East Java, Tri Maharani, said that she hoped for a more sustainable PPE supply, especially N95 masks and its variants, at affordable prices.

However, resources are limited and we must keep on working.

“N95 masks are currently Rp 100,000 [US$6.79] per piece, while its Chinese variant KN95 is Rp 40,000 per piece. This is burdening my hospital, which can only provide one mask [for one worker] for a whole month,” Tri said.

Under such conditions, Tri is forced to reuse N95 masks numerous times. She broils and boils the mask after each use.

“With each boiling, the mask will be less effective and it smells. However, resources are limited and we must keep on working,” she said.

Also read : Clear Criteria is Needed for the Easing

DOKUMENTASI PRIBADI

Futri Dewi Sari, 33, a volunteer health worker, examines a patient at the Wisma Atlet Covid-19 Emergency Hospital in Jakarta.

Do not rush

Regarding the plan to ease large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) and implement a new normal, Adib said that the government should not rush into things.

“Preparedness of infrastructure, human resources and the availability of isolation wards must be calculated and mapped out so that we are ready for surges of cases,” he said.

Adib said he had yet to see such calculations thus far. Discourses are merely about the decline of new cases, which remain debatable due to limited testing capacity. Other than proper measuring, regional dynamics must also be put into consideration, especially in regions outside Java with highly limited capacity. Adib said that hospitals and medical workers in Jakarta right now see a lighter burden in line with the declining number of cases.

Also read : PSBB Easing Merely a Plan

“This could be caused by many Jakarta residents leaving the city for Idul Fitri mudik [exodus]. We must monitor Jakarta’s situation in the next two weeks as there are concerns that high activities during Idul Fitri will lead to new clusters. We also have to watch out for a reverse exodus,” he said.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO (KUM) 21-05-2020

Police officers man the checkpoint at the Cikarang Barat tollgate in Bekasi, West Java, Thursday (21/5/2020). The police are turning back many private vehicles attempting to go on mudik (exodus) to their hometowns for Idul Fitri, while freight and pickup trucks are allowed to enter the toll road.

As the situation improves in Jakarta, Adib said that a number of regions are seeing surges of new cases, leading to an increased burden for local medical workers.

“East Java looks to be overwhelmed. This is worrying,” he said.

Also read : Don’t Be Lulled by the Easing of PSBB

Scores of medical workers at Surabaya’s Airlangga University Hospital have contracted the disease. A notification letter signed by the hospital’s deputy director of medical services and treatment, Hamzah, said the hospital had temporarily ceased receiving new COVID-19 patients due to limited capacity of patient treatment and service adjustments.

“Medical workers face a very high infection risk, caused by not only PPE [availability] but also exhaustion, which leads to decreased alertness as well as standards of healthcare facilities. For instance, polyclinics must have standards for negative pressure to prevent virus accumulation indoors,” Adib said.