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Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan. (ANTARA)

Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan has sought the central government's support to expand the capacity of healthcare facilities in the capital, in anticipation of a further increase in COVID-19 cases.

"The fact now is that the number of cases has continued to increase, hence, we have to be prepared for a more challenging condition," Baswedan said in a meeting with the supervisory team of the House of Representatives for COVID-19 handling here on Thursday.

According to Baswedan, the health facilities in Jakarta have only been prepared for a normal situation, while the number of coronavirus infections has continued to increase.

The capital city has 190 hospitals, of which 100 have treated COVID-19 patients and 172 have handled patients under surveillance (PDP) for coronavirus.

"In Jakarta we have 190 hospitals, with 23 thousand beds, 714 ICUs, 657 isolation rooms, and 947 ventilators," the Governor elaborated.

Given the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases and assuming that 20 percent of patients would need intensive care, the existing health facilities would be inadequate and would not be able to accommodate all patients, he explained.

"If the positive trend continues, maybe, we will have the problem of limited ICUs and isolation rooms. Hence, the capacity (of healthcare facilities) must be improved," he said.

The Governor has also sought the central government's support to increase the capacity for COVID-19 testing with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits for faster and more accurate detection of coronavirus infections.

As of Thursday, the number of COVID-19 patients in Jakarta has reached 2,670, with 202 patients recovering and 248 succumbing to the infection.

Of the total COVID-19 positive patients, 1,601 are undergoing treatment in hospitals and 619 are observing self-isolation. (ANTARA)