Indonesia’s health workers are struggling under the weight of new cases seven days after the world’s fourth most populous country faced its deadliest day with 2,069 deaths.
As of Sunday, total official cases stood at more than 3.4 million with 97,291 deaths, though with poor testing and many people dying at home, the real figures are thought to be considerably higher, reports AP news agency.
As the region grapples with a new coronavirus wave fuelled by the delta variant, Indonesia’s death rate hit a 7-day rolling average of 6.5 per million on 1 August, second only to Myanmar and far higher than India’s peak rate of 3.04 that it hit in May during the worst of its outbreak.
Among the dead in Indonesia are more than 1,200 health care workers, including 598 doctors, according to the Risk Mitigation Team of the Indonesian Medical Association. The doctors included at least 24 who were fully vaccinated.
Many others are exhausted from the workload, said Mahesa Paranadipa, who co-leads the mitigation team, making them more likely to fall ill.
Paranadipa said:
We are worried about overburdened workloads lasting for a long time, causing potential burnout conditions. This fatigue causes the immunity of health care workers to decrease.
Acknowledging the risks faced by health care workers, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said Monday that a top priority is giving them a third booster vaccine dose.
Most who have been vaccinated have received Sinovac, which appears to be less effective against the delta variant, and Indonesia has already begun administering booster shots.
On top of the lack of medical personnel, Indonesia is also suffering from inadequate supplies.
Staff report oxygen shortages and hospitals filled far beyond their patient capacity, making it even more difficult to treat people properly.
Over the last two months, it has become common to see dozens of people with severe symptoms waiting in line for a bed in the hospital’s emergency unit, and more lines of people waiting for a space in the isolation ward following treatment, one worker said.
Some patients have brought their own oxygen tanks with them, and as the hospital’s own supplies have waned, doctors and nurses have had to ask them to share with others.
