Delta variant taking hold of Indonesia's Papua as hospitals near capacity

JAKARTA: Hospitals in Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua are nearing full capacity amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, with health officials bracing for the full impact of the virulent Delta variant on one of the country’s least-developed areas.

The bed occupancy rate at some hospitals in Papua province had reached 100%, with emergency units and tents being used to treat COVID-19 patients, Dr Aaron Rumainum, head of the Papua health agency’s disease control and prevention unit, said. "We have the same problem as Java. Isolation rooms are full and there is a lack of oxygen,” he told Reuters, adding the Delta variant, first identified in India, had now been detected in the province.