With the high count of active cases, several infected residents could not secure a place to receive hospital treatments due to the increased Bed Occupancy Rate (BOR). They inevitably had to undergo self-isolation at home.
As a result, several lives were lost, especially of older adults more prone to contracting the disease.
Moreover, life had just gotten more challenging for Jakartans with the enforcement of Public Activity Restrictions (PPKM), which has made it even more difficult for some of them to even put food on the table.
Responding to the challenging situation, the Jakarta provincial government and local city governments moved quickly to provide centralized patient isolation facilities.
All from region-owned enterprises (BUMD) to private companies worked hand-in-hand to prepare isolation centers. One of them is a Jakarta-owned developer Perumda Sarana Jaya that established an eight-story isolation center named Cik's Mansion.
Cik's Mansion, a hotel located on Jalan Pegangsaan Barat, Menteng, Central Jakarta, has since June 2021 been converted into a controlled isolation facility prepared by the Central Jakarta city government.
With a capacity of 77 rooms, Cik's Mansion accommodates asymptomatic patients (OTG) referred from community health centers (Puskesmas) or public hospitals in the Central Jakarta area.
COVID-19 positive patients will undergo isolation for 10 days at the hotel. However, Cik's Mansion Patient Manager and Person in Charge Ardian Saputra informed that patients still experiencing mild symptoms would be required to undergo an additional three days of isolation.
At the hotel, self-isolating patients will receive food thrice a day and vitamins provided by the Central Jakarta Social Service and several other parties.
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Isolation facilities
The isolation center is not only provided by the BUMD and the government but also by private parties initiated by AlfaCorp, a group of companies that houses Alfamart, Alfamidi, DAN+DAN, Lawson, Alfaland, Omega Hotel Management, and Bunda Mulia University.
The dormitory of Bunda Mulia University, UBM Housing, is currently the first controlled isolation facility prepared by the private sector in Jakarta Province.
The dormitory at Jalan Lodan Number 2, Pademangan, North Jakarta, has a total of 375 rooms to be used for workers exposed to COVID-19, with a capacity to accommodate around 600 patients, with mild to no symptoms.
AlfaCorp provides three meals a day from its hotel business unit as well as two ambulances on standby round-the-clock if the need arises.
Health workers from the Hermina Hospital were also deployed as on-call doctors to monitor the patients' condition on a regular basis.
At the launch of UMB Housing as a centralized isolation facility, Jakarta Governor Baswedan stated that this form of handling the pandemic was in fact a "movement" and not a "program."
According to Baswedan, "program" meant that COVID-19 handling was conducted, planned, financed, and evaluated by the government.
However, "movement" meant that all components of society partake in the efforts and intervene to play a role in their respective fields according to their individual capabilities in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.
The launch of UMB Housing's centralized isolation center has supported the government’s efforts in providing isolation centers for COVID-19 patients.
Earlier, each city government in Jakarta had provided an isolation center for residents.
For instance, the Graha Wisata Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) isolation center in East Jakarta, Nagrak Cilincing Flat in North Jakarta, Wisma Atlet Kemayoran in Central Jakarta, Graha Wisata Ragunan in South Jakarta, and the Pasar Rumput flat that is still unused.
Several offices belonging to the government agency and the ministry located in Jakarta also readied an isolation center for their staff exposed to COVID-19.
"The Attorney General's office, Ministry of Transportation, and Ministry of Education have an isolation center for their staff," Baswedan noted.
Moreover, every mayor is urged to prepare an isolation center in their respective offices, such as the North Jakarta Mayor's Office, which has readied Balai Yos Sudarso as a isolation facility for COVID-19 patients, with no symptoms.
With the current count of active cases in Jakarta having decreased significantly to 14,451 as of August 5, 2021, the government is endeavoring to provide sufficient isolation facilities for its residents.
Oxygen scarcity
In addition to the limited isolation facilities, the spike in COVID-19 cases in Jakarta last July also led to a shortage of oxygen supplies in the province.
The need for oxygen cylinders and refills increased 10 folds in the Koja area, North Jakarta, according to Arios Aritonang, a seller of oxygen cylinders and refills, who had been running the business for four years.
To handle the issue of oxygen scarcity in the province, the Jakarta provincial government, in collaboration with a state-owned company, PT Krakatau Steel, provided an oxygen refill post in the National Monument area, Central Jakarta.
Recently, the city-owned public transportation company PT MRT Jakarta (Perseroda) also raised funds through the wecare.id platform to distribute 70 oxygen cylinders to four hospitals in Jakarta.
In addition, at least 138 oxygen cylinders handed over to the Jakarta provincial government by the Central Jakarta Metro Police. The oxygen cylinders were confiscated by the police from several illegal importation cases.
According to Governor Baswedan, most hospitals in Jakarta currently use oxygen cylinders with permanent installations.
Hence, the 138 oxygen cylinders were then distributed to COVID-19 patients undergoing self-isolation at home with the supervision of the local community health center.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has prolonged for almost two years, has, in fact, brought to light mutual cooperation (gotong royong), the fundamental value held by Indonesians.
With empathy, all parties, right from business owners to the masses, unite in helping each other survive the pandemic.
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Editor: Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
