Rieka Rahadiana and Arys Aditya – Indonesia will start importing oxygen cylinders to meet surging demand from Covid-19 patients as the country battles a fresh wave of infections that overwhelms its medical system.
Local media have reported that hospitals in Java, the country's most populated island, are facing a shortage of oxygen. More than 30 patients died in a hospital on Saturday in Yogyakarta after it briefly ran out of supply of oxygen, CNN Indonesia reported on Sunday.
The government is urging those with mild symptoms to be treated at home "because hospitals are full," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in a parliamentary hearing on Monday. Bed occupancy rates at hospitals across the nation have hit 74%, with some exceeding 100% already, said Lia Gardenia Partakusuma, secretary general of National Hospital Association.
Southeast Asia's biggest economy recorded its deadliest day over the weekend, with 555 people died from the virus on Sunday. More than 2.2 million people have been infected, the worst in Southeast Asia. The fresh outbreak of infections threatens economic recovery as the government warns growth may slow to around 4% in the second quarter amid tighter restrictions on mobility.
Growth may improve in the third quarter if the virus spread can be contained by July, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Monday.
CEO of Indonesia's biggest industrial gas producer Samator Group Arief Harsono was among the latest victims. Harsono, who was part of an effort to boost oxygen supplies to hospitals across the country, died of Covid-19 on Friday, Kompas newspaper reported Saturday.
President Joko Widodo last week pledged to make sure hospitals have enough oxygen supply by converting those used for industry into medical. Indonesia has around 1.5 million to 1.8 million oxygen cylinders, but the virus resurgence has caused a slow throughput, according to an Industry Ministry statement.
Meanwhile, the nation's food and drug regulator, known as BPOM, said it is finalizing emergency use of authorization for Pfizer Inc.'s Covid-19 vaccine after issuing the approval for the coronavirus vaccine made by Moderna Inc. last week.
Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/indonesia-to-import-oxygen-tanks-as-covid-spike-dries-supply-1.162533