Without ICUs, doctor in Jakarta hospital battles to help COVID-19 patients

Patients with breathing problem are seen outside the emergency ward at a government-run hospital, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases surges, in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 1, 2021. Picture taken July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Yuddy Cahya Budiman

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian doctor Cheras Sjarfi says the small public hospital where she works in south Jakarta was not ready for the influx of COVID-19 patients who arrived after a surge of new infections in the world's fourth-most-populous country.

Only equipped for basic health care, her facility has had to treat COVID-19 patients even though it lacks the life-saving ventilators and intensive care units they sometimes require.