The recent surge of new COVID-19 cases in Bali appears to be taking its toll on health facilities across the province, as various hospitals inch ever closer to full capacity this week.
“Health facilities in Denpasar are almost all completely filled. This has become our concern, to not let there be increasing transmissions,” Dewa Gede Rai, spokesman for Denpasar’s COVID-19 task force, said yesterday.
Wangaya Denpasar General Hospital, for example, which houses 41 isolation rooms, is reportedly at 99 percent capacity on Monday. The hospital is preparing to turn a VIP guest room into a temporary isolation ward in order to add 11 more beds.
Meanwhile, the Udayana University Hospital in Badung regency only has three beds left out of the 88 it houses for COVID-19 patients, as of yesterday.
“The other day we had 25 empty beds, but then in the morning there were 20 new patients, with an additional three in the evening,” Dewa Putu Gede Purwa Samatra, president director at the university hospital, said, noting that there was a patient discharge as well.
Several Bali hospitals have had to temporarily close their emergency units during the pandemic, such as Payangan General Hospital and Sanjiwani General Hospital –– both in Gianyar regency –– after hospital staff contracted the virus.
After half a month of reporting more than 100 daily cases, Bali has been reporting lower numbers so far this week. The latest data shows 49 new cases today, bringing the provincial tally to 7,429.
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