Surabaya govt criticized for not breaking COVID-19 chain during PSBB

The Surabaya Municipal Legislative Council (DPRD) leadership criticized the city government for failing to break the chain of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the 14-day large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), ending Monday (May 11).

"We opine that the city government has no measurable roadmap (for handling the COVID-19 pandemic), so the curve of the COVID-19 spread is still moving upward," Deputy Chairman of the Surabaya DPRD Laila Mufidah stated here on Monday.

If the city government were to have a clear and measurable roadmap in place, then the COVID-19 cases in the East Java provincial capital would be handled more effectively, he remarked.

"The Surabaya city government should evaluate several aspects following the first phase of the PSBB, one of them being how to achieve the measurable target of PSBB," he noted.

The target may cover the number of samples tested and the number of PCR tests conducted, he remarked.

Moreover, the city government should monitor the extent to which the tracing of COVID-19 spread has progressed, he stated.

The Surabaya city administration has increased the capacity of hospitals to treat patients having contracted COVID-19 and prepared 265 hotel rooms for isolating people under surveillance (ODP).

"There are additional wards in some 40 private hospitals that have cooperated with the city administration (in handling the COVID-19 pandemic)," a spokesman of Surabaya's Task Force for Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling M. Fikser stated here on Sunday.

Fikser noted that the city had prepared at least 120 beds for the additional wards.

"Additional patients can be admitted to hospitals that already have adequate facilities," he stated.

The local government has also boosted the capacity of local public hospitals (RSUD), with the number of wards at the Dr M. Soewandhie Hospital being increased by 36 to 58 rooms.

"We will add 52 wards at the RSUD Bhakti Dharma Husada. Hence, it will have a total of 64 wards," Fikser noted.

The city administration has also prepared 265 hotel rooms for the isolation of residents, who recently arrived from abroad, and those whose families tested positive for COVID-19, as hospitals are facing an overload of COVID-19 patients.

A total of 796 patients with coronavirus have been admitted to hospitals in Surabaya, while hospitals in the city only have limited isolation rooms, with a total capacity to accommodate 403 patients.

"This is since the isolation rooms are not only used to treat patients with COVID-19 but also ODP (people under surveillance) and PDP (patients under surveillance)," Fikser stated.