After the number of patients of Coronavirus in Indonesia keeps mounting makes the foremost COVID-19 referral hospitals in Jakarta face a shortage of medical workers.
One of a pulmonologist named Faisal Rizal Matondang from the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital (RSPI) said, “We have enough medical equipment, but we are short of medical workers, while the number of patients keeps rising,” he told to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in a video call on Sunday.
Before, Faisal had tested positive for COVID-19 but has recently recovered.
“Yesterday I was X-rayed and also took a swab test. I’ve been declared fit for duty. Today is my first day back on the job,” he said.
He said that he spends extra time communicating with COVID-19 patients in a lighthearted way, as many of them experienced boredom and loneliness in isolation.
The President responded, “I can imagine how hard it is to be on the frontlines of handling COVID-19. I am very grateful and appreciative of the hard work of the doctors and medical workers who are fighting [COVID-19],” he said.
Jokowi also expressed his gratitude for the work that Faisal and other medical workers had done on the frontlines of the outbreak.
As information, data from the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) reported Indonesia, home to 271 million people, has only 0.13 specialist doctors per 1,000 people.
The figure for general practitioners is 0.52 per 1,000 people, fewer than half the ideal target of 1.12.
According to the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), 123 doctors have died from COVID-19 so far.
