Deaths Due To COVID-19 Rise, Minister Of Health: The Cause Is Too Late To Bring Them To The Hospital

JAKARTA - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin revealed that many COVID-19 patients who died due to being late were brought to the hospital for treatment.

"Mr. President has given instructions that many people have died. The death toll is high. I have checked with many hospital directors for late admission", said Minister of Health Budi in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel, Monday, July 26.

Most of these COVID-19 patients are already in a state of oxygen saturation below 94 percent. Where most of them are self-isolating at home so they don't get maximum monitoring.

Therefore, the Minister of Health suggested that people who carry out self-isolation should always use an oximeter or a tool to measure oxygen saturation that is clamped on their fingers.

He explained that if the oxygen saturation was below 94 percent, even if it was just a small cough, the patient still had to be taken to a hospital or a centralized isolation place for treatment.

However, if the oxygen saturation is above 94 percent, then it is enough to continue self-isolation at home. "The important thing is not to wait until 80-70 because you feel healthy. Sometimes people just feel like I just have a small cough, I don't want to go to the hospital, let alone I'm afraid of being tested, I don't want to be tested", said the Minister of Health.

He reminded that COVID-19 can actually be cured as long as it is handled quickly and the treatment is right. Budi explained that of the 100 people who were positive for COVID-19, only about 10 percent were admitted to the hospital and only 1.7 percent died.

In fact, the death rate from COVID-19 is not higher than TB and HIV.

"But it must be treated quickly and appropriately. So if it is positive, get tested quickly. After the test, quickly measure the saturation. If the saturation is above 94 percent stay at home but if it is below it must be sent to a hospital or centralized isolation", said the Minister of Health.

"Many people who die are due to being late for admission to the hospital. If this disease is treated early, it will recover, God willing", he concluded.