COVID-19: Amid rise in cases, Indonesia surpasses 100,000 deaths

Indonesia surpassed 100,000 deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic on August 3. The country is battling its worst pandemic wave caused due to the delta variant of coronavirus. It took 14 months for Indonesia to cross the 50,000 death mark at the end of May, and just over nine weeks to double it. On Wednesday, the Indonesia health ministry data showed Indonesia's total number of COVID-19 infections had reached more than 3.5 million.

Indonesia surpasses 100,000 deaths due to COVID-19

The deaths rose by 1,747 bringing the fatalities to 100,636. More than 2,800 people have died during self-isolation at home since the beginning of June, AP reported citing LaporCOVID-19, an independent virus data group that keeps track of deaths at home. Ahmad Arif, one of the LaporCOVID-19 founders told AP that some of these deaths have been reported while others are not. While speaking to The Associated Press, Arif revealed that the people were rejected by hospitals and also had limited access to medicines at home. As per the report, the COVID-19 patients at their home had no oxygen supplies and protective equipment which led to their deaths.

A shortage of medical staff has enhanced the coronavirus crisis in Indonesia, as health care workers have been falling victim to COVID-19. Lia Partakusuma, secretary-general of the Indonesia Hospital Association told The Associated Press that intensive care beds continue to face shortage especially outside of Java. She revealed that her association has received many reports of people dying at home in Java. Amid the rise in COVID-19 cases, the government has ramped up its vaccination drive. The country has also diverted most of the country’s industrial oxygen production for medical use. The authorities have built more isolation centres and field hospitals to accommodate more COVID-19 patients. The authorities have also increased supplies of medicine to hospitals. 

IMAGE: AP

(WIth Inputs from AP)