The Indonesian government is going to use a former camp for Vietnamese refugees on the uninhabited island of Galang, the Riau Islands, to treat those infected with the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Indonesian media reported on Thursday, EDNews reports citing BERNAMA.
Earlier this week, Indonesia confirmed the first two cases of COVID-19 in the country.
Several facilities of the former refugee camp, which had been in use in 1979-1996, can be transformed into a hospital for the COVID-19 patients, Sputnik news agency quoted the Jakarta Post newspaper.The newspaper cited Indonesian Military commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto as saying.
According to the official, the medical centre would also be used to quarantine those with suspected COVID-19.
“We shall see if this is the right time to turn the location into a special hospital to treat patients infected with novel coronavirus. Hopefully, this plan will be realised soon and the hospital can be put to use immediately, especially if there are infected patients near Galang Island,” Hadi said, as quoted by The Jakarta Post.