In anticipation of a potential COVID-19 spike, the Jayapura Public Hospital, Abepura Public Hospital, and Provita Hospital are trying to increase their hospital bed and isolation ward capacity, Silwanus Sumule said.
The Jayapura Public Hospital has run out of beds for COVID-19 patients as all the 23 beds allocated for them are currently occupied, he informed in a statement that ANTARA received here on Monday.
"The Jayapura Public Hospital is hospitalizing patients with moderate and severe COVID-19," said Sumule, who is also the hospital's deputy director.
If the COVID-19 surge hits Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, new coronavirus patients would have to be treated in the same rooms as non-COVID-19 patients, but the treatment areas would be segregated, he added.
The hospital currently has just three ventilators, and the number is highly inadequate, Sumule said.
Besides Jayapura Public Hospital, Provita Hospital is also making efforts to boost its capacity so it can receive more COVID-19 patients in the future, he added
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020 up till July 9, 2021, Papua has recorded 26,641 COVID-19 cases, Sumule said.
At least 22,847 COVID-19 patients have fully recovered from the infection, while 524 others have succumbed to the deadly virus so far. Currently, 3,270 residents are hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province, he informed.
According to Sumule, Mimika district has been the biggest contributor to Papua's infection rate, with 713 COVID-19 cases reported so far.
With the province experiencing a significant surge in new COVID-19 cases last week, the Papua COVID-19 task force has reiterated its call to local residents to continue complying with the health protocols promulgated by the government.
On July 8, 2021, Papua recorded 405 COVID-19 cases and 10 new deaths, Sumule said.
The single-day increase in both COVID-19 cases and deaths was the highest since the pandemic struck the province in 2020, he noted.
The number of people contracting the virus could likely continue to rise, hence people must continue to obey the health protocols, Sumule said. (INE)
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Translator: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
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