Hotman Siregar, Jakarta – A surge in coronavirus cases in Jakarta has driven up hospital occupancy, with 70 percent of ICU beds for Covid-19 patients already occupied, the city's Health Department said on Sunday.

Jakarta has designated more than 4,400 isolation beds and 483 ICU beds in 67 referral hospitals for Covid-19 patients.

"Of the 483 ICU beds in 67 hospitals, 70 percent have been occupied according to the latest data on August 14," Dwi Oktavia, head of the department's Center of Disease Prevention and Control, said in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, occupancy rate of Covid-19 isolation beds stood at around 66 percent, she added.

The capital city is dealing with more than 8,800 active cases of the virus, mostly are taking self-imposed quarantine, according to government data on Sunday.

The makeshift Covid-19 hospital at the athletes' village, the city's largest isolation facility that can house up to 2,000 patients, was occupied by 1,411 patients on Sunday.

"The total number of patients here – all have tested positive with the virus – increased by 32 from a day earlier," military spokesman Aris Mudian said.

The makeshift hospital in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, is supervised by the Indonesian Military.

Jakarta saw resurgence in coronavirus cases in mid-July and overtook East Java as the province with the most cases ten days ago.

The capital city has a total of 29,400 cases, including 981 deaths, as of Sunday. It has added more than 8,000 cases since August 1 and averaged 500 cases per day.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/jakartas-icu-bed-occupancy-reaches-70-pct-as-coronavirus-cases-surge