Dengue patients fill hospitals

JAKARTA: City-run hospitals Pasar Rebo and Budi Asih, both in East Jakarta, have added more beds along their corridors after dozens of new dengue patients were admitted to the hospitals on Thursday.

At Pasar Rebo hospital, 21 of 72 dengue patients were treated on additional beds along the corridors, while in Budi Asih, 22 of 55 patients were treated along its corridors.

Pasar Rebo hospital spokesman Dedi Suryadi said that they would still accept new dengue patients as long as they were willing to be put along the corridors.

"If they don't want to be transferred to other hospitals and are willing to be put along the corridors we will treat them professionally," he said.

Despite the increasing number of people treated for dengue, the city administration has refused to declare the dengue outbreak as an ordinary occurrence, which would require the city administration to pool its resources to fight the outbreak. --JP