The Covid-19 resilient shelter which Sonjo, a Whatsapp community group, helped to set up.- BANTUL HEALTH OFFICE/The Straits Times-ANN JAKARTA, Feb 14 (The Straits Times/ANN): A grassroots movement in one of Indonesia s worst-hit regions for Covid-19 has emerged to ease a crisis in healthcare in the country with hospitals unable to cope as patient numbers surge.
Last month, Sonjo, a WhatsApp community group in Yogyakarta, a province on Java island, tapped into their network to help the district government turn a disused hospital into an isolation facility to house Covid-19 patients with moderate to no symptoms.
While the government paid for such expenses as sterilising the Patmasari Veteran hospital in Bantul Regency and equipping the wards with some 60 beds, Sonjo volunteers helped raise funds to procure personal protective equipment such as hazmat suits and masks as well as other medical necessities.