Indonesia turns hotels into hospitals as cases continue to rise

The Indonesian government has turned hotels in Jakarta into Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres following the drastic increase in number of cases with hospitals in the province almost reaching full capacity.

Jakarta Health Agency public health sector head Fify Mulyani said two hotels, Ibis Style in Mangga Dua, North Jakarta and U Stay Hotel in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta, were converted into Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres yesterday.

Without mentioning the number of patients being treated there, he said Hotel Ibis could accommodate 212 patients and Hotel U Stay, 140.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association chairman Krisnadi in a statement said that 30 hotels in Jakarta had been identified for conversion into temporary hospitals for the treatment and quarantine of Covid-19 patients.

On Sept 14, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said 67 hospitals in Jakarta had reached over 70% in terms of use of equipment, beds and medical facilities with an average of almost 1,000 cases reported in Jakarta each day since the end of August.

Based on data posted by Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Authority today, a total of 1,238 new positive cases were reported in Jakarta in the last 24 hours.

Jakarta has recorded the highest number of cases in the republic at 72,577, with 1,716 fatalities so far.

Indonesia today recorded 4,002 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the republic to 282,724.

Another 132,496 patients are still being monitored for the viral infection.

Between noon yesterday and noon today, 128 more deaths occurred, bringing the cumulative figure to 10,601.