The government, in cooperation with the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), has prepared 120 hotels in nine provinces to accommodate asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.
The hotels have a total capacity of 13,334 beds. The self-isolation facilities are provided by the government for people who are unable to quarantine at home because they live in houses that are too small, are shared by many family members or are in close proximity to other houses.
Jakarta, East Java and Papua are the three provinces with the biggest self-isolation hotel facilities.
In Jakarta, 33 hotels with a total 4,333 beds are spread throughout the city. Central Jakarta has 14 self-isolation hotels, South Jakarta has five, East Jakarta has three, West Jakarta has five and North Jakarta has six.
East Java has 16 self-isolation hotels with a total of 2,160 beds and Papua has 20 hotels with total capacity of 1,797 beds.
Bali has 1,547 beds in 12 hotels, West Java has 1,169 beds in 12 hotels, and South Sulawesi has 1,156 beds in eight hotels.
South Kalimantan will have 815 beds in 11 hotels, North Sumatra 184 beds in six hotels and Central Java 173 beds in two hotels.
Previously, national COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardo warned the public about asymptomatic patients, saying that people could be carrying the virus without knowing it and end up transmitting it to their family members and those closest to them.
“COVID-19 is dangerous. But, the humans who carry COVID-19 are far more dangerous,” Doni said last month.
He added that about 7 percent of COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 emergency hospital in Jakarta said they had rarely or never left home prior to their treatment, Doni said.
Doni said that many people were continuing to ignore health protocols, such as maintaining physical distance, wearing a mask and avoiding crowds, as they assumed they were immune to COVID-19 or even doubted that there was a pandemic at all.
“We need to realize that discipline is a must at all times. If we are even just a little careless and ignore the health protocols, we will be exposed,” he said.
“COVID-19 is real. It is not fabricated and not a conspiracy.” There were no more safe places, he said, adding that the threat of infection was ever-present and that humans would continue to be the intermediaries of the virus. (iwa)
Editor’s note: This article is part of a public campaign by the COVID-19 task force to raise people’s awareness about the pandemic.
