Indonesian ferry turns floating isolation centre for Covid-19 patients

Patients exercise on the deck of a passenger ship owned by the state-owned shipping company PT PELNI, KM Umsini. - Antara/Reuters

MAKASSAR, Indonesia (Reuters): A vehicle with a flashing siren and "Makassar Covid Hunter" written on the side pulls up to a ship docked at a jetty in the Indonesian port city of Makassar, and masked Covid-19 patients carrying bags board the boat.

This ship, called the KM Umsini, used to ply a route ferrying up to 2,000 passengers between Indonesia's island cities. Now, it has been turned into an isolation centre for Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms, amid the spread of the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant.