The Srengseng Sawah cemetery has been used since January 12 (2021). Several COVID-19 patients have been buried there
Jakarta (ANTARA) - With several cemeteries overwhelmed amid a hike in coronavirus infections, the Jakarta provincial administration has decided to use the Srengseng Sawah public cemetery in South Jakarta to bury patients dying of the virus.

"The Srengseng Sawah cemetery has been used since January 12 (2021). Several COVID-19 patients have been buried there. Basically, we prepare a public cemetery for community members," Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria said.

Among the public cemeteries that have been overwhelmed by the burials of COVID-19 patients are Tegal Alur in West Jakarta and Pondok Ranggon in East Jakarta, he told ANTARA in Jakarta on Thursday.

At the Tegal Alur public cemetery lie 4,500 graves of Muslims who succumbed to the novel coronavirus disease, he informed adding, the cemetery has been declared overwhelmed since January 12, 2021.

At the same time, a special block at the Pondok Ranggon public cemetery, provided for the funerals of non-Muslims succumbing to COVID-19, has also been overwhelmed since December 20, 2020, Patria said.

Meanwhile, to serve those in dire need of medical treatment, the number of COVID-19 referral hospitals has been increased from 98 to 101, Patria said.

Around 27-30 percent of the occupancy rates of hospitals administered by the Jakarta provincial government are filled by non-Jakartans, or those administratively registered in such cities as Tangerang, Bogor, Depok, and Bekasi, he said.

"As the government, we do not discriminate against them. Whoever they are will be accepted and served as well as we can," Patria added.

Jakarta and many other Indonesian provinces have been striving to contain coronavirus infections, which initially emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 and then spread worldwide, including to nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

The first COVID-19 infections in Indonesia were reported on March 2 this year.

As of Thursday, the Indonesian government's COVID-19 Task Force recorded that the country's infections reached 869,600, while recoveries stood at 711,205, and the death toll was recorded at 25,246.

Provinces reporting the highest number of new cases on Thursday included Jakarta, with 3,165 cases; followed by West Java (2,202); Central Java (1,497); East Java (981); and, South Sulawesi (640).

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Translator: Ricky P, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
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