Death Rate Increases, Epidemiologist Suggests The Government To Evaluate The Management Of COVID-19 Control

JAKARTA - Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Epidemiology expert Riris Andono Ahmad asked the government to evaluate the management of pandemic control in order to find out which factors contributed greatly to the death rate due to COVID-19.

This is following an increase in cases of death due to the virus in the country.

“Where is the point located now? It could be, for example, related to access where severe COVID-19 patients come from middle to lower socioeconomic levels and access to health services is more difficult, so getting to health services is slow so that the possibility of death is very high", said Riris in his statement, Wednesday, 19 May.

From the data from the COVID-19 Task Force, on May 15, 2021, the death rate due to COVID-19 in the country was 2.76 percent. Increased from the previous per February 2021 of 2.75 percent.

Meanwhile, the percentage of cases of death due to COVID-19 in the world is 2.07 percent.

According to him, the exact cause of death from COVID-19 cannot be determined without an audit.

Many factors can influence this, one of which is related to access to health services and related to how health services are able to manage existing cases in a strong and quality manner.

In addition, he said, the increase in death cases could be related to the referral system. "Although currently there is a referral system, the existing system has not been adapted to the current pandemic situation which requires speed of handling", said Riris.

Due to the absence of a fast referral system, according to Riris, the service for severe COVID-19 patients is slow, thus increasing of death rate.

Meanwhile, another factor is due to the existence of a new mutation of COVID-19 which is rumored to have a higher transmission rate.

"However, these are all hypotheticals, which ones affect in real terms in the field are not known for sure", he explained.

Therefore, continued Riris, to reduce the number of cases of death due to COVID-19, it is not enough just to evaluate case management of deaths due to COVID-19 in the country.

The community, he said, is also expected to take part in a disciplined manner in implementing health protocols by adhering to the 5Ms, namely wearing masks, washing hands with soap in running water, maintaining distance, staying away from crowds, and reducing mobility.

"The community must continue to run the 5Ms health protocols, which is a superior weapon to prevent COVID-19", said Riris.