35 Health Care Staff Test Positive for Covid-19 at Jakarta's Fatmawati Hospital

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – A leading Covid-19 referral hospital in Jakarta has stayed strong on the frontlines of the capital's fight against the coronavirus despite seeing 35 of its staff testing positive for the disease.

Fatmawati Hospital President-Director Mochammad Syafak Hanung said "35 of our staff have tested positive for Covid-19 following rapid and swab tests administed to 1,307 employees between March 18 and August 7 of this year”.

“The swab tests are particularly used to test employees who we deem to be particularly vulnerable [to Covid-19],” Mochammad said in a written statement on August 14.

Also read: Jakarta Delays Exit from Partial Lockdown for the Fourth Time

It's business as usual for the hospital, Syafak said.

“As a Covid-19 referral hospital, Fatmawati Hospital has health protocols, internal policies and guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among our patients, staff and visitors,” he assured.

Syafak admitted there is still room for improvement.

“We will introduce a number of changes in training our staff. This includes guidelines on wearing and taking off personal protective equipment [PPE],” he asserted. “Procedures like these, or swab tests, will be carried out without disrupting our services.”

Syafak added that Fatmawati Hospital has the requisite facilities and manpower required for Covid-19 services, in line with its standing as a Technical Implementation Unit facility under the Ministry of Health.

“The facilities include negative low-pressure isolation rooms, isolation rooms with normal air pressure, special operating rooms for Covid-19 cases, hemodialysis chambers, as well as NICU units adjusted for those with the pandemic,” he said.

Also read: Jakarta Regional Parliament Building Closed on Detection of Covid-19 Cluster

“We will also carry out intensive contact tracing to find how our staff contracted Covid-19 and continue screening of visitors and staff to prevent and contain the pandemic.”

Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases in Jakarta currently stands at 28,438 after an additional 575 people recently tested positive for the disease.

“Of that number, 985 people passed away, or a 3.5 percent fatality rate,” said Jakarta health services official Dwi Oktavia.

“Another 18,528 persons have recovered from the coronavirus." She added that the recovery rate stands at 65.2 percent.

(Writers: Wahyu Adityo Prodjo, Ryana Aryadita Umasugi | Editor: Jessi Carina)

Sources: 

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2020/08/14/15294931/35-karyawan-rs-fatmawati-positif-covid-19-pelayanan-tetap-berjalan. 

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2020/08/14/19181271/update-14-agustus-tambah-575-pasien-jumlah-kasus-positif-covid-19-di.