Jakarta, Indonesia, March 23, 2020: Indonesia has turned its Athletes’ Village built for the 2018 Asian Games into an emergency hospital with a capacity to hold more than 4,000 patients, authorities said on Sunday.
Four out of 10 towers in the Athletes’ Village Kemayoran in Central Jakarta have been converted into a medical centre that would house more than 7,000 people, including a coronavirus task force, medical staff and up to 4,208 patients, Reuters reports from Jakarta.
“The ministry of state-owned enterprises will provide supplies for the emergency hospital to handle Covid-19, be it healthcare equipment, medicine, personal protection gear and masks,” the minister of state-owned enterprises, Erick Thohir, said in a statement.
Thohir, who is a member of the International Olympic Committee and a former President of the Indonesian Olympic Committee, was President of the 18th Asian Games organising committee INASGOC.
The Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, has declared a state of emergency in the Indonesian capital for the next two weeks over the outbreak.
Depending on how the coronavirus spreads in Indonesia, authorities can convert more towers in the Athletes Village into medical facilities, officials said.
“If all 10 towers are used, then 20,000 patients can be accommodated,” a ministry of public works and housing spokesman told Reuters.
Indonesia Red Cross (PMI) staff sterilized the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran towers in Central Jakarta on Saturday as preparation for turning the 2018 Asian Games athletes’ village into an emergency COVID-19 hospital.