WEB DESK
Indonesia will provide free telemedicine services to coronavirus patients with mild symptoms in an effort to reduce pressure on a healthcare sector inundated by record numbers of COVID-19 cases. Indonesia is battling one of Asia’s worst COVID-19 epidemics, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant.
Indonesia’s health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the remote services will be provided from tomorrow by tele-health firms such as Alodokter and Halodoc and will include free consultations and medication delivery. He added that positive COVID-19 patients can get medical services on time without waiting in line at hospitals, so that hospitals can be prioritised for patients with medium, heavy, and critical symptoms.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that health spending would be raised again to 13.39 billion US Dollars for coronavirus treatment, testing, tracing, drugs, vaccines and protective gear.