Jakarta (ANTARA) – Military observer of the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS) Khairul Fahmi praised the Ministry of Defense’s move to convert its facilities into COVID-19 emergency hospitals.

“Since the start of the pandemic, I have suggested the mobilization of national resources and infrastructure as a solution and precautionary measures to fulfill emergency needs,” Fahmi stated when contacted in Jakarta, Friday, July 16.

The ISESS military observer noted that during this time, problems faced in handling COVID-19 were not only related to infrastructure but also human labor, specifically health workers.

“This calls for other solutions, such as the mobilization of human resources, so that health workers really focus on handling patients, and they would no longer be bothered by administrative issues and so on,” Fahmi remarked.

He stated that the Ministry of Defense has worked accordingly by mobilizing the supporting components of national defense as stipulated in Law No. 23 of 2019 on National Resource Management for National Defense. Similarly, Marapi Consulting and Advisory Senior Researcher Beni Sukadis fully supported Minister of Defense Prabowo’s move to transform the ministry’s education and training Centers (Pusdiklat) into emergency hospitals for COVID-19 patients.

The new emergency hospitals could help address the shortage of beds or health facilities due to the surge in the number of COVID-19 patients. In addition to supplementing emergency health facilities, the ministry should ensure the availability of health workers, Sudakis remarked.

Currently, the ministry’s several facilities were converted into COVID-19 emergency hospitals, two of which were the Defense Management Center (Pusdiklat Jemenhan) Building and the Language Education and Training Center at Pondok Labu, South Jakarta, Sukadis stated.

The senior researcher noted that the ministry’s training agency in Salemba, Central Jakarta; Country Defense Center in Rumpin, Bogor; and mess stand by force at IPSC Sentul, Bogor, would serve as emergency hospitals. Thus, a total of 1,650 additional beds will be available for COVID-19 patients in the Jabodetabek metropolitan area.

He said these converted health facilities can be utilized to treat COVID-19 patients with moderate symptoms. They are also equipped with health workers, such as general practitioners, internal medicine specialists, pulmonary specialists, and anesthesiologists.

For additional health workers, the ministry has deployed supporting components that comprised general practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory institutions, radiographers, Sudakis pointed out.

Earlier, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto stated that the healthcare service units had been working to offer health facilities for over a year.

Source: Antara News