Indonesian Medical Association: Covid-19 Killed Over 700 Medical Personnel

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Indonesian Medical Association or IDI has announced that Covid-19 continues to take a toll on Indonesian medical workers, who are at the frontlines of the fight against the pandemic.

A compilation of statistics from IDI and the Indonesian National Nurses Association (PPNI) have shown that Covid-19 left more than 700 Indonesian medical workers dead in its wake, since it was first detected in Indonesia on March 2020.

“The total number of doctors who were killed by Covid-19 currently stands at 401. 26 of them died from the coronavirus in June [2021],” said IDI Secretary-General M. Adib Khumaidi on Friday, June 25. He added that the figures ran from March 12 2020, to June 24 2021.

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“The pandemic also killed 315 nurses. 25 of them work in medical labs, 43 are nurses for dentists, 15 of them work with apothecaries, while 150 of them were midwives.”

Adib suggested that medical personnel take extra precautions in handling Covid-19 cases, in light of the casualties they have been taking from the pandemic. “I urge doctors, nurses and other medical workers to constantly use Personal Protective Equipment [PPE] on the job,” he asserted.

“I also advise our colleagues who are 65 years old and over to stay at home, or be on call when we ask for their aid.”

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The number of fatalities has risen from by more than 200, since the last statistics for fatalities among medical personnel was taken in January 2021.

The figures, which covered the time period between March to December 2020, showed that 504 doctors and nurses were killed treating Covid-19 since the outbreak was detected in Indonesia.

Adib noted at the time that 52 doctors died treating Covid-19 cases in December 2020.

(Writer: Haryanti Puspa Sari | Editor: Krisiandi)

Source: 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/06/25/19173361/idi-selama-pandemi-401-dokter-wafat-akibat-covid-19.