VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo. (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has given clear-cut instructions to his aides to usher in improvements in the hospital reference system to handle overcapacity at some hospitals for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Improve the system of reference and the management of hospitals to handle overcapacity at our referral hospitals," Jokowi remarked at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday.

The president made the statement at the virtual meeting on COVID-19 response in which the attendees comprised Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, cabinet ministers, and head of the Task Force for Acceleration of the COVID-19 Handling Doni Monardo.

"We should manage this carefully. We need to handle aspects pertaining to which patient is exhibiting mild and moderate symptoms and which ones are showing severe symptoms that necessitate intensive hospital care," he emphasized.

The government has readied 132 referral hospitals in 34 provinces for treating cases of coronavirus infection in accordance with Health Minister’s Decree No. HK.01.07/MENKES/169/2020 on referral hospitals for certain emerging infectious diseases.

It also readied Wisma Atlet (athlete village) in Kemayoran in Jakarta as an emergency hospital for treating patients with mild and moderate symptoms.

"I have also lauded the development of technology-based medical consultation, and I think this must be developed further. The number of telemedicine services must be increased, so it could reduce (physical) contact between patients and doctors," the president noted.

As of Sunday (April 19), the number of COVID-19 patients in Indonesia had reached 6,575. As many as 686 patients have recovered, while 582 others died of the virus.

The number of patients under surveillance (PDP) has reached 15,646, while the people under monitoring (ODP) stands at 178,883 people.

The coronavirus infection has spread to all 34 provinces across the country, with the highest number of confirmed cases recorded in Jakarta, reaching 3,052; followed by 696 in West Java; 590 in East Java; 370 in South Sulawesi; 349 in Central Java; 324 in Banten; 135 in Bali; 107 in Papua; 96 in South Kalimantan; 89 in South Sumatra; and 81 in North Sumatra.

According to the Worldometers website, as of Monday, 2,407,339 people worldwide have contracted the coronavirus. It also recorded 165,069 deaths owing to the virus and 625,127 patients having recovered. (ANTARA)