Parts of Indonesia lack oxygen supplies as the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients who need it increases, the nation’s pandemic response leader said yesterday, after dozens of sick people died at a public hospital that ran out of its central supply.
“Due to an increase of three to four times the amount [of oxygen] needed, the distribution has been hampered,” Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said.
The government is asking oxygen producers to dedicate their full supply to medical needs and would import it if needed, Pandjaitan said at the virtual news conference.
Photo: Bloomberg
This statement comes after Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the government guaranteed oxygen supply for COVID-19 patients on June 26.
At least 63 COVID-19 patients died during treatment at Dr Sardjito General Hospital in Yogyakarta city since Saturday — 33 of them during the outage of its central liquid oxygen supply, even though the hospital switched to using oxygen cylinders during that period, hospital spokesman Banu Hermawan said.
“Their deteriorating condition contributed the most to their deaths,” Hermawan said.
The hospital’s central oxygen supply was operational again at 4:45am on Sunday, after 15 tons of liquid oxygen were delivered. Medical oxygen comes in liquid and compressed forms.
Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said the hospitals needed more oxygen than they needed before because of the increasing number of COVID-19 patients in the province.
“We need more oxygen supply, but it does not mean there is no supply at all,” he said.
Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, has seen a rapid surge in COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks. The Indonesian Ministry of Health recorded 27,233 new cases with 555 deaths from the virus on Sunday. The country has recorded more than 2.28 million cases, including 60,582 deaths.
The incubation period means the number of people infected would continuously increase through the middle of this month, Pandjaitan said.
“It can increase again in the future if we cannot be disciplined,” he said.
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
US President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday accused Harvard University of violating the civil rights of its Jewish and Israeli students, and threatened to cut off all federal funding if the university does not take urgent action. Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump’s campaign against top US universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and “viewpoint diversity.” Trump and his allies claim that Harvard and other prestigious universities are unaccountable bastions of liberal, anti-conservative bias and anti-Semitism. In a letter sent to the president of Harvard, a federal task
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
RSS