Suherdjoko, Semarang, Central Java – Forty-six medical workers at Dr. Kariadi General Hospital (RSUP) in Semarang, Central Java, have contracted COVID-19 after reportedly treating patients who had covered up their travel history to virus-hit regions.
The Central Java administration confirmed on Thursday that the healthcare workers who tested positive had been isolated at the province-owned Kesambi Hijau Hotel, which now serves as a quarantine center for COVID-19 patients.
Governor Ganjar Pranowo said some patients who went to the COVID-19 referral hospital had not revealed their travel history to coronavirus red zones to healthcare workers, who presumably contracted the virus from them.
"What happened at Kariadi Hospital is unbelievable. It serves as a lesson for us that doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are very vulnerable," Ganjar said on Friday, "Once again, I remind all patients to provide thorough information about their conditions."
The 46 medical workers in quarantine are currently in a healthy condition, he said, adding that they had sent him a video, in which they all "look cheerful and in high spirits".
The governor said that he had contacted the management of the hospital to improve its protocols to prevent medical workers from getting infected by the contagious virus, adding that the Central Java administration was ready to ensure supplies of medical equipment and protective gear.
Hospitals across the country are in dire need of additional medical equipment and supplies as doctors and nurses scramble to handle the surge in the number of patients with COVID-19, ranging from those with mild symptoms to severe cases.
The lack of protective gear has taken its toll on medical workers in Indonesia, as dozens of those working on the front line have reportedly been infected by the contagious disease.
In Jakarta alone – the country's epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak – for instance, at least 174 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19.
Tirta Mandira Hudhi, a doctor who has volunteered to treat coronavirus cases with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said that it was very important for patients not to cover up their condition or travel and contact history when they saw doctors and nurses at hospitals.
"Asymptomatic patients are the most dangerous in the case of COVID-19 because they don't show any symptoms but are actually infected. That's why honesty is very important," Tirta said.
"If [patients] cover up their conditions, it will endanger everyone around them as well as medical workers," he added.
As of Friday, Central Java had recorded 304 cases of COVID-19 out of the nationwide official tally of 5,923. The nationwide death toll from the disease is 520, with 41 fatalities reported in Central Java. (dpk)