The first factor was the availability of health services at hospitalsJakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta provincial health office has outlined three main reasons for a sharp decline in the daily COVID-19 death rate in the capital to 10 on Thursday from 400 in early July this year.
“The first factor was the availability of health services at hospitals,” chief of disease prevention and control section at the Jakarta Provincial Health Service, Dwi Oktavia, said in Jakarta on Friday.
Data from the Jakarta provincial government shows that a total of 13,312 people succumbed to the coronavirus in the capital as of Thursday (September 2, 2021), accounting for 1.6 percent of the national death toll of 134,356.
Related news: COVID-19 under control, positivity rate at 4.3%
The bed occupancy rate (BOR) in Jakarta, which has 140 referral hospitals for COVID-19 patients, declined to 15 percent as of Wednesday, she informed. In June-July 2021, bed occupancy had crossed 90 percent, she said.
“Only 1,211 or 15 percent of the total of 8,189 beds are currently occupied,” she informed.
The bed occupancy rate at hospitals’ intensive care units (ICU) in Jakarta also declined to 31 percent, with just 414 out of the total 1,349 beds currently occupied, she said.
The second reason for the fall in the COVID-19 death rate is that the COVID-19 testing capacity in Jakarta is relatively better, Oktavia said. Swab test samples are being taken at public health service posts (Puskesmas) and then examined in laboratories, she added.
Related news: West Jakarta authority inspects PPKM enforcement at 434 offices
A total of 334 public health service posts in the capital have been involved in the handling of COVID-19 cases, she said.
The capacity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based swab testing has also been intensified, she informed. In the past week, the number of PCR-based swab tests increased to 80 thousand, or eightfold higher than the WHO target of 10,650 per week, she added.
As a result, new COVID-19 cases could be handled quickly, Oktavia said.
The third reason is massive vaccination of residents aged above 12 years, she informed.
As of Wednesday (September 2, 2021), 9.77 million residents in Jakarta have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, accounting for 109.3 percent of the targeted 8.94 million residents.
Nearly 40 percent of the vaccine recipients are non-Jakarta residents.
Related news: Masking up, getting vaccinated part of new normal: Plate
Related news: Indonesia achieves vaccination target set by WHO
Translator: Dewa Ketut SW, Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
