Indonesia’s coronavirus crisis goes from bad to worse as doctor dies after 24-hour search for ventilator

The deaths of Dr Sardjono Utomo and his wife from Covid-19 highlighted how ill-equipped the nation’s hospitals were to handle the pandemic

Asked why a senior doctor was unable to receive the care he needed, Dr Syaiful, who treated Sardjono, said there was just not enough room

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The deaths of Dr Sardjono Utomo and his wife from Covid-19 have raised alarm bells in Indonesia, where the pandemic has overwhelmed the country’s health system. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:12pm, 4 Dec 2020Updated: 5:19pm, 4 Dec 2020

Dr Sardjono Utomo, a senior Indonesian doctor, admitted himself to his local hospital in East Java late Tuesday afternoon.

In just over 24 hours, as his fellow doctors phoned hospital after hospital in search of a ventilator in Surabaya – Indonesia’s second-largest city and a few hours’ drive away – the doctor and his wife, Sri Martini, would both be dead.

The deaths of Dr Sardjono and his wife from Covid-19 have raised alarm bells in Indonesia, where the pandemic has steadily gone from bad to worse and is now putting significant strain on the country’s poorly equipped health system.

In the past 10 days Indonesia has posted four daily record high numbers, the highest was December 3 with 8,369 new cases, while local news has runs headlines of more regional hospitals reaching full capacity.

“It seems like the current overcapacity situation is the worst it has been throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia,” Halik Malik, spokesman for the Indonesian Medical Association, said.

Indonesia’s coronavirus crisis goes from bad to worse as doctor dies after 24-hour search for ventilator

The deaths of Dr Sardjono Utomo and his wife from Covid-19 highlighted how ill-equipped the nation’s hospitals were to handle the pandemic Asked why a senior doctor was unable to receive the care he needed, Dr Syaiful, who treated Sardjono, said there was just not enough room

The deaths of Dr Sardjono Utomo and his wife from Covid-19 highlighted how ill-equipped the nation’s hospitals were to handle the pandemic

Asked why a senior doctor was unable to receive the care he needed, Dr Syaiful, who treated Sardjono, said there was just not enough room