The number of deaths from Covid-19 in Indonesia has surpassed 10,000 people. The reinstated social restrictions in Jakarta have been effective in curbing the disease’s transmission rate.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·5 minutes read
The number of deaths from Covid-19 in Indonesia has surpassed 10,000 people. The reinstated social restrictions in Jakarta have been effective in curbing the disease’s transmission rate.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — A little less than seven months since the first Covid-19 cases in the country were announced on 2 March, the cumulative deaths attributed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease have reached 10,105. With Indonesia’s population of almost 270 million, there have been 37 deaths per 1 million people from Covid-19 in the country.
According to Worldometer data, Indonesia ranks 103rd in the world in terms of Covid-19 deaths per million people. San Marino, which has a population of around 34,200, tops the list with 1,237 deaths per million people.
Covid-19 Control Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito announced the current total of Covid-19 deaths in the country on Thursday (24/9/2020).
“The cumulative total deaths is 10,105, or 3.9 percent [of confirmed cases], while the average fatality rate for the world is 3.05 percent,” Wiku said at the State Palace, Jakarta.
While Indonesia has a Covid-19 fatality rate that is higher than the global average, its recovery rate is below the global average. Data provided by the Covid-19 Task Force revealed that the number of recovered cases increased yesterday by 3,895, bringing the total to 191,853, or 73.2 percent. This is lower than the global recovery rate of 73.77 percent.
The daily tally of new cases in Indonesia broke the previous record yesterday with 4,634 confirmed cases, bringing the cumulative total to 262,022 confirmed cases, including 60,064 active cases.
The daily spike in new cases and the increasing positivity rate indicate an even more worrying spread of Covid-19 infection. The daily tally of new cases in Indonesia broke the previous record yesterday with 4,634 confirmed cases, bringing the cumulative total to 262,022 confirmed cases, including 60,064 active cases.
The new cases were detected through tests on 34,786 people. The new daily increase brings Indonesia’s positivity rate to 13.3 percent, and the average positivity rate for the past week to 16.1 percent. This was higher than the positivity rate in mid-September (14.8 percent) and at the end of August (13.4 percent).
The greatest surge in new cases yesterday occurred in Jakarta (1,044 cases), followed by West Java (804), Central Java (434) and East Java (343). The highest recorded deaths occurred in East Java (27 deaths), followed by Central Java (25), Jakarta (20) and West Java (12).
“A high [number] of deaths is inevitable if the number of people in hospitals keeps rising, In Jakarta, people [needing] intensive care must now wait, so that increases the risk of delayed treatment and resulting deaths,” said Ari Fahrial Syam, the dean of the University of Indonesia (UI) medical school.
Pulmonologist Eva Sri Diana at Pasar Rebo Regional General Hospital in Jakarta said that the majority of hospitals in Jakarta and its vicinity were full.
Data from the Jakarta Health Office show that the bed occupancy rate in isolation wards was at 81 percent and 74 percent at intensive care units (ICUs).
According to Ari of UI, hospitals were at the downstream end of Covid-19 control and management. Although the patient treatment protocols were improving and hospitals’ capacity was increasing, if cases of infection continued to rise, many patients would go untreated.
“We should focus more on the upstream sector because an increasing number of health workers have [been infected],” he said.
Reports from doctors in the regions said that the increasing trend in patient numbers were further burdening health workers.
“[Cases of] Infection increases when mass gatherings and [community] movement prevail. So the restrictions should be tightened in all regions,” added Ari.
Treatment standards
Medical referral services director Rita Rogayah at the Health Ministry said that standard treatment therapies for Covid-19 patients were regulated in the Covid-19 management procedures and the Covid-19 prevention and control guidelines. Hospitals and health workers applied the standards in treating Covid-19 patients, which derived from joint research studies by relevant medical organizations.
The ministry’s acting health services director general, Abdul Kadir, added that the government had expanded coverage of treating Covid-19 patients by designating additional referral hospitals and emergency hospitals.
Hotel rooms were being used for Covid-19 patients primarily in the nine priority provinces for Covid-19 control, including 4,116 rooms at 31 hotels in Jakarta.
The task force’s Wiku said that central and regional governments had independently arranged isolation facilities for Covid-19 patients in cooperation with the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI). Hotel rooms were being used for Covid-19 patients primarily in the nine priority provinces for Covid-19 control, including 4,116 rooms at 31 hotels in Jakarta.
Meanwhile, a team at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta was researching innovations for Covid-19 control and was developing a device called GeNose that analyzed exhaled breath to detect Covid-19.
Social restrictions
Tight social restrictions were so far proving effective at lowering incidences of Covid-19 infection. The data presented by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan showed that after the capital reinstated the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), the infection rate remained high, but was slowing down. The number of active cases in Jakarta increased by 3,864, or 49 percent, over the two weeks from 30 Aug. to 11 Sept. 2020, while the period from 12 to 23 Sept. recorded an increase of 1,453 active cases, or 12 percent.
Jakarta has also recorded a decline in the fatality rate. “The flattening curve of active cases is not the ultimate goal. We still have to work together to break the chain of transmission,” Anies said in a written statement.
In Batam, a surge in Covid-19 cases has filled all 360 beds at the Covid-19 and Infectious Diseases Hospital on Galang Island, which is now unable to admit any more patients. In resolving the issue, the Batam municipal administration has converted the Business Agency’s dormitory into an emergency hospital.
In Kupang, civil servants of the municipal administration have resumed working from home as of Monday (28/9), following a local spike in Covid-19 cases.(AIK/TAN/NTA/HRS/HLN/NDU/KOR)