IDI Official Release: 504 Health And Medical Workers Die Of COVID-19

Photo illustration (Mufid Majnun / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) Mitigation Team reported updating of data on deaths of health and medical personnel due to COVID-19. From March to the end of December 2020, 504 medical personnel died as a result of being infected with COVID-19.

The increase in the mortality rate for medical and health personnel is one of the effects of the accumulated increase in activity and mobility that has occurred recently. Based on the data of the IDI mitigation team, December 2020 was the month with the highest death toll for medical and health personnel during the pandemic.

IDI Mitigation Team Leader Adib Khumaidi said out of a total of 504 medical and health workers who died, 237 of them were doctors, 171 nurses, 64 midwives, 7 pharmacists, 10 medical laboratory personnel.

The doctors who died consisted of 131 general practitioners and 101 specialist doctors, as well as 5 residents, all of whom came from 25 IDI Regions (provinces) and 102 IDI Branches (cities / districts).

"The increase in the mortality rate for medical and health personnel is one of the impacts of the recent accumulated increase in activity and mobility. December 2020 was the month with the highest death toll for medical and health personnel during the pandemic," he said, in a written statement received by VOI, Saturday , January 2.

Adib said that there were 11 provinces with the highest mortality of medical and health personnel including East Java, DKI Jakarta, Central Java, North Sumatra, West Java, South Sulawesi, Banten, Bali, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, East Kalimantan, DI Yogyakarta.

Meanwhile, the medical professionals with the highest mortality rate are general practitioners, internal medicine specialists, obstetricians, pediatricians, and dentists.

"The death rate for medical and health personnel in Indonesia is the highest in Asia, and in the top 5 worldwide. This figure has increased to five times from the beginning of the pandemic," he said.

Even though the government has prepared a vaccine that will be given free of charge to the Indonesian people in stages, Adib said that the vaccine is not a cure for COVID-19. Because, this is a preventive effort carried out by the government.

Adib also highlighted the positive ratio of COVID-19 which was 29.4 percent. This situation could become increasingly uncontrollable if society did not help by increasing adherence to 3M's Health Protocols of wearing masks, maintaining distance and washing hands.

"We also remind the government and health facility managers to pay attention to the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for medical and health workers, and also provide routine tests to find out the current status of medical and health conditions of medical and health workers," he said.

Adib emphasized that the protection of health and medical personnel is absolutely necessary. Because, in a situation where people are ignorant of health protocols, medical and health personnel are not only the front guard but also the last stronghold.