JAKARTA, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia needs additional 20,000 nurses and 3,000 doctors to deal with the surging COVID-19 cases in the seven worst-hit provinces, a minister said.
Nursing organizations and education institutions have about 19,000 nurses who are expected to be able to assist medical workers on the frontlines of handling COVID-19, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Tuesday.
There are nurses who have finished education but have not had competency tests, Sadikin said.
In addition, there are around 3,900 doctors who have just finished their internship programs, and their administrative process will be accelerated so that they can immediately work in hospitals.
Indonesia recorded 47,899 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the highest since the coronavirus was detected for the first time in the country in March last year, bringing the tally to 2,615,529.
The government has added 1,200 more beds to the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 emergency hospital, 2,273 beds to three towers in Nagrak flats, 3,986 beds to Pasar Rumput flats, and 900 beds to Wisma Haji Pondok Gede, all in capital Jakarta.
This week, the government will initiate the third shots of the COVID-19 vaccines for medical workers to keep them protected while working. Enditem