The Health Ministry is strengthening data integration with state-owned Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) to detect COVID-19 patients who have comorbidities earlier so that they can be treated quickly.
“Thus, even if they only have mild COVID-19 symptoms, they will be immediately transferred to treatment rooms in hospitals,” Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said at a virtual press conference on the limited meeting on community activity restrictions (PPKM) on Monday.
COVID-19 patients who have comorbidities will get earlier treatment to prevent the worst outcome, he added.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment and PPKM Coordinator for Java and Bali Regions Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that BPJS Kesehatan’s data will be integrated with the data of the Health Ministry’s New All Record system on daily cases.
“Thus, if there is an additional confirmed COVID-19 case, it can be immediately detected whether the patient has comorbidities or not. Hence, treatment can be carried out quickly,” he remarked.
He noted that 73 percent of the 2,484 patients who died as of February 21, 2022, had not received the full vaccination.
Furthermore, it turned out that 53 percent of the patients who died were elderly, he said. In addition, 46 percent of the deceased patients had comorbidities, he added.
Patients with comorbidities usually succumb an average of five days after being transferred to the hospital, he informed. The most common comorbidity the patients have is diabetes mellitus, he said.
During the limited meeting, President Joko Widodo asked that the fatality risk for the elderly, people who have not been fully vaccinated, and people with comorbidities be minimized as far as possible through proper medical care, he added.
According to the COVID-19 Task Force, Indonesia added 34,418 confirmed cases on Monday, bringing the total number of active cases to 530,671.
Source: Antara News