The Jakarta Post , Jakarta With the arrival of the rainy season, hospitals are preparing for a fresh outbreak of dengue fever in the capital. Hospitals across the city expect the number of dengue patients to rise gradually throughout the month. Zuraidah, the spokeswoman for Central Jakarta’s Tarakan Hospital, said Monday additional portable beds, infusion poles and medicines had been prepared in anticipation for the potential outbreak.

If the measures we have taken are not enough, we will ask for more supplies from the Health Agency, who will also help us find more doctors if we need them, Zuraidah said. Zuraidah said Tarakan Hospital usually had the capacity to treat 200 dengue fever patients at any one time, but with the additional beds it had prepared it would be able to treat more than 400 people at a time. Some 14 patients were being treated for dengue fever at the hospital on Monday.

Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta has also made preparations in anticipation of another dengue fever outbreak in the city. Hospital spokesman Atom Kadam told The Jakarta Post his team had recently hired more health-care professionals and prepared additional rooms and portable beds. We will be able to accommodate up to 150 dengue fever patients per day, said Atom, adding that 20 patients were being treated at Fatmawati Hospital for dengue fever on Monday.

Both hospitals reported a decline in the number of dengue fever patients they treated in October compared to previous months, but expect the number of cases to steadily rise over the coming months. It is expected the highest number of cases will be reported between January and May next year. Head of the health promotion division at the city’s Health Agency, Feurah Dihan, said dengue fever cases were minimal in October due to the fact the rainy season was yet to start.