The WHO recently expanded the case definition for Covid-19 deaths to build a clearer picture of how many lives the virus has taken to help with mitigation efforts.

The WHO now defines a COVID-19 death as: “A death resulting from a clinically compatible illness in a probable or confirmed COVID-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to COVID disease (e.g., trauma). There should be no period of complete recovery between the illness and death.”

In Indonesia however, only those victims who have tested positive for the virus prior death are added to the government’s official death count.

More than 25 doctors have died from the virus and countless medical staff across the country have also fallen victim and died. Many deaths in Indonesia have not been attributed to Covid-19 and are not included in the official death toll, despite the fact that these individuals had clearly shown symptoms and/or had close contact to patients who tested positive for the virus.

Instead, the government’s Covid-19 Task Force uses five categories when determining cases. Only those who have tested positive through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing prior to death are added to the official list. This leaves the actual death toll far lower than it should be as some people have died while waiting to be tested, waiting for test results, suffered from symptoms but lacked access to testing labs or just did not receive medical attention.

For example is Dr. Berkatnu Indrawan Janguk, a doctor serving Covid-19 patients in a Surabaya hospital, died last week from Covid-19 but his death likely won’t be added to the government’s official Covid-19 death count. The 28-year old doctor had undergone a swab test several weeks ago after showing symptoms of the virus and tested positive. He later underwent two additional PCR tests showed him as negative. As his final test appeared to show him as free from the virus and that he did have a history of suffering from asthma, it’s likely that that his death will not be attributed to the virus despite the fact that he had direct contact with Covid-19 patients and shown symptoms.  

Another example is Shelly Zeindia Putri, the young emergency ambulance worker for the Jakarta Public Health Office who was admitted to the hospital on 17 April after suffering from severe Covid-19 symptoms. She died just two days later. As she was categorized under the Patients Under Supervision category (PDP) for the virus and had not yet been tested, her death will not be added to the official Covid-19 death toll.

Just recently, the Indonesian Doctors Association, urged the government to be more transparent with its numbers and called for the government to release the number of those who died while under “supervision”, not just those who have been confirmed to have the virus and later died. 

All Covid-19 victims need to be counted as this is a key when developing mitigation strategies for the pandemic and because both Dr. Indrawan and Ms. Shelly gave their lives while saving others.   

In our most recent episode of Indonesia In-depth podcast, we break down the Covid-19 numbers in Indonesia along with the testing challenges and much more. You can listen to the episode here.

Shawn Corrigan is the host and producer of Indonesia In-depth, Indonesia’s leading business, political and culture podcast based in Jakarta. He has spent more than a decade in Indonesia working as a political risk consultant and established Indonesia In-depth in 2017. He speaks English and Indonesian. In addition to the podcast, Indonesia In-depth provides professionals with content services, from podcasts, audio documentaries to social media content.