Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – A number of private companies are joining forces to build a 500-bed isolation facility for Covid-19 patients in East Jakarta, expected to become operational next week.

Named "Rumah Oksigen" (oxygen house), the facility is designed to provide direct acces to oxygen supplies and medications for patients with moderate symptoms of Covid-19.

"This facility will be completed next week to accommodate around 500 patients. The additional capacity may help ease pressures on hospital bed occupancy ratio," President Joko Widodo said when inspecting the site on Saturday.

"I really appreciate this initiative and hopefully a facility like this one can be built in other provinces, not just in Jakarta."

Supervised by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), the collaboration involves technology company GoTo, industrial gas supplier Aneka Gas Industri, Master Steel, Tripatra Engineering and telemedicine app Halodoc.

"Hopefully we can build a similar facility in East Java, Central Java and other places. Entrepreneurs are fighters in this fight against the pandemic and we must unite to win," Kadin Chairman Arsjad Rasjid said.

The facility is designated for patients with moderate symptoms of Covid-19 who need oxygen therapy. It's located near the oxygen generation plant belonging to Aneka Gas Industri in Jakarta's industrial complex Pulo Gadung.

"Every bed is connected directly to the oxygen piping system of the factory," GoTo CEO Andre Soelistyo said.

The facility is the second initiative by the private sector aimed at helping ease government's burdens in Covid-19 handling. Kadin has earlier gathered businesses to finance vaccine procurement by themselves and distribute doses among their workers for free.

Indonesia is facing a shortage in oxygen supplies amid a dramatic surge in newly Covid-19 cases, prompting the government to limit oxygen uses for medical purposes only during the country's most critical period of the outbreak.

The daily death toll has been topping 1,000 in the past week as more Covid sufferers dying while self-isolating in their homes after being turned away by overloaded hospitals.

On Saturday, the country recorded 45,416 new cases to take its total to 3.1 million. The current one-day figures are among the highest in the world.

A further 1,415 Covid patients died in the 24-hour period, bringing the total death toll to 82,013.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/private-companies-join-hands-to-set-up-oxygen-therapy-facilit