Various developments have taken place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to date, including in terms of malignancy. Hence, the related knowledge should be updatedJakarta (ANTARA) - Head of the Youth Red Cross (PMR) Division and Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) Volunteer Center Exkuwin called on volunteers in the country’s provinces to actively and consistently keep themselves abreast of knowledge on COVID-19.
"Various developments have taken place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to date, including in terms of malignancy. Hence, the related knowledge should be updated," Exkuwin stated during the commemoration of PMI's anniversary that fell on September 17 when contacted in Jakarta, Friday.
Furthermore, he reminded volunteers to be heedful of the importance of applying health protocols.
In fact, volunteers should firstly protect themselves before taking action on the field. In other words, it is necessary to protect oneself before saving others.
"This means our safety is prioritized through knowledge and protection using proper personal protective equipment," he emphasized.
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Furthermore, Exkuwin highlighted the importance of PMI volunteers on the field being heedful of the aspect of protection, in terms of the insurance system.
Exkuwin noted that discipline is also one of the key points that should elicit the attention of volunteers. Moreover, at times, they tend to forget to maintain physical distancing while hanging out with others after taking off their hazmat suits or other personal protective equipment.
"This is a human tendency since sometimes they forget when they get together with fellow volunteers. However, we will always keep reminding them about this aspect," he stated.
In general, 21,109 volunteer corps members and 9,423 PMI volunteers are spread across Indonesia until now. Furthermore, 200,549 PMR members are recorded in the country.
"This data represents only some 25 percent that had entered the volunteer list into the PMI personnel database at egpmi.or.id," he stated.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at the Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital, Kemayoran, Central Java, surged by 1,066 to reach 2,757 as of 8 a.m. local time, Thursday, from 1,691 the day before.
No suspected COVID-19 patients were administered treatment at the hospital on that day, the hospital's spokesman, Marine Colonel Aris Mudian, earlier noted in a written statement.
The 2,757 patients comprised 1,334 men and 1,423 women, he confirmed.
Wisma Atlet, with 10 towers, was once an athlete village when Jakarta and Palembang had co-hosted the 2018 Asian Games.
President Joko Widodo officially converted some of the towers into a 12-thousand bed capacity COVID-19 emergency hospital on March 23, 2020.
The government, through the National Defense Forces (TNI) Headquarters, appointed the Joint Defense Territory Command (Kogabwilhan) I to operate the pioneering COVID-19 emergency hospital in the country.
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Translator: M Zulfikar, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Sri Haryati
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