- Indonesia will distribute 300,000 packets of Covid-19 drugs for 7 days to patients.
- The country has been hit by the worst coronavirus pandemic in the region, with more than 70,000 deaths so far.
- A local nurse told Insider that free medicine might help, but what the hospital desperately needs is more oxygen.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced on Thursday that his government will distribute 300,000 packages of Covid-19 drugs and vitamins to coronavirus patients free of charge to help those who are turned away due to overcrowding in hospitals and medical facilities .
Widodo said in a broadcast that each packet will contain a 7-day supply of vitamins Available on YouTube. He added that the distribution will be carried out under “strict supervision” to ensure that the supply of medical facilities will not be interrupted. Patients with mild to moderate symptoms need a doctor’s prescription to receive additional therapeutic Covid drugs.
Indonesia currently faces Southeast Asia’s worst epidemic surgesAs of Thursday, there were 2.72 million cases and 70,192 deaths.
Authorities say cases are increasing rapidly Mainly driven by the Delta variant, which caused a large number of infections and deaths in May India.
Indonesia’s medical infrastructure is under siege, especially in Bali and Java. The price of unproven drugs there skyrocketed Rumors help treat Covid-19.
There is a constant shortage of oxygen in the hospital, with Many patients died during self-isolation after being turned away from overwhelmed medical facilities.
“This is terrible. Except for one room, our hospital has remodeled all rooms to treat CovidD-19 patients. But every shift, I will refuse at least 10 people.” For security reasons, I want to remain anonymous. Said the emergency room nurse. He works in a private hospital in central Jakarta that can accommodate up to 600 patients.
“I often come into contact with positive cases. Some people are lying on the floor of the hospital. They use wheelchairs to bring the patients to me, and when they reach me, they are dead,” he told Insider.
“It sometimes takes up to five days to get PCR swab test results from the testing facility, so we are not always completely sure whether the patient has Covid-19.”
He said that free drugs and vitamins may help alleviate the country’s suffering, but only to a small extent.
“What we need most is oxygen, and now there is no other help,” said the nurse, who said that some of his patients received only one-third of the oxygen they needed.
On Thursday, a minister responsible for overseeing pandemic response measures stated that Indonesia is planning to import oxygen from overseas countries such as Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and China. According to CNBC Indonesia.
