Jakarta – The number of Covid-19 patients at Wisma Atlet makeshift hospital in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, has surpassed 5,000 in the past 24 hours, a military spokesman said on Thursday.

The makeshift hospital occupying the athletes' village has a capacity of nearly 8,000 beds which were largely empty when cases plummeted back in November.

But more than 5,000 beds were occupied on Thursday amid a sudden surge in new cases believed to be triggered by the highly-contagious Omicron variant.

"There are a total of 5,174 patients comprising of 2,370 men and 2,804 women," military spokesman Marine Colonel Aris Mudian said.

Supervised by the military, the makeshift hospital was set up in mid-2020 to treat patients with mild and moderate symptoms and provide large-scale isolation facilities. It has since received 142,367 patients.

Of that figure, 137,193 have been discharged while 596 died during treatment. The recent surge means that 65.5 percent of hospital capacity is being used.

Hospital spokesman Dr. Mintoro Sumego said 54% of the total 5,174 patients had a history of recent overseas travels. He added that 76 percent of patients displayed mild symptoms and the rest were asymptomatic.

"We have prepared 2,251 medical personnel along with supporting materials, such as 5,000 gallons of liquid oxygen," Mintoro said.

Other isolation facilities in the capital city also reported a surge in the number of patients, including Wisma Atlet Pademangan and two apartment buildings in Manggarai and Cilincing.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/wisma-atlet-covid19-hospital-tops-5000-patient