We are not expecting anything actually. If there is a family which says thanks, that's already enough.
Indramayu (ANTARA) - Some days, Hari Nuryani, who helps bury COVID-19 patients, can only come home by dawn due to the sheer number of bodies that need to be laid to rest.

"If the number of death cases rises, we bury four to six people in a day. If the location is far away, then we reach home only by dawn," said Nuryani, who is serving as a volunteer undertaker in Indramayu District, West Java Province.

As a volunteer undertaker handling the bodies of patients succumbing to COVID-19, the 49-year-old woman, who is also known as Yani, has to remain on standby all day. It’s a 24x7 job, and due to the nature of her duties, she is often summoned at odd hours -- at times when she is just about to turn in for the night.

As volunteer undertakers, the duties of Yani and her team include bathing the corpses of COVID-19 patients, wrapping them in a shroud, covering them with plastic, putting them in a coffin, and then burying them.

As a part of the Quick Reaction Unit of the Indramayu Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Yani had handled corpses prior to her present assignment.

But, the bodies of COVID-19 patients require different handling.

Workers have to follow special protocols in handling as well as burying corpses of COVID-19 patients. The process also lasts longer than the average corpse handling and burial.

In addition, workers also face the risk of COVID-19 infection while on the job. To minimize the risk of infection, Yani has to protect herself by complying with the health protocols set by the government.

At home, to protect herself and her family from infection, Yani, a mother of three, always follows the masking and distancing protocols, and while on the job, she wears full protective gear.

She also makes sure to take breaks every time she is tired.

"Alhamdulillah (I have not been infected with COVID-19) until now. We need to be able to protect ourselves. If we do not feel comfortable, we should rest," she said.

Yani said she also frequently prays to the almighty to protect her while she is answering the call of duty.

Praying is a form of support for Yani, who has been handling the corpses of COVID-19 patients since November, 2020.

Helping others

Yani volunteered to become a COVID-19 corpse handler after several hospitals in Indramayu, overwhelmed by the rise in the number of coronavirus deaths, turned to the Indramayu BPBD for assistance.

When the head of the Indramayu BPBD sought her out, Yani immediately agreed to take on the job.

Yani has been assigned to two hospitals in Indramayu. She said she sometimes helped in handling the burials of residents in the area where she lives.

As a corpse handler, she said, she faces less-than-pleasant treatment and even rejection from the relatives of deceased patients and the people around her.

However, such treatment does not deter Yani from carrying out her duties and helping others.

"We are not expecting anything actually. If there is a family which says thanks, that's already enough," Yani remarked.

She said she just expects everyone to protect their family's health as well as their own by strictly adhering to the health protocols so that the number of COVID-19 cases can be stemmed and the number of people dying of COVID-19 can decline.

If people disobey the health protocols, then the number of COVID-19 infections will be hard to control, and hospitals as well as burial workers will be overwhelmed, she said.

Stemming infections

As of July 29, 2021 noon, the number of people infected with COVID-19 in Indramayu has reached 14,972, with 1,122 patients currently undergoing treatment, 13,166 patients recovering from the infection, and 684 patients succumbing to it.

Head of Indramayu's Health Office Deden Bonni Koswara said the government has been making efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the number of deaths.

Beyond implementing community activity restrictions to control the number of cases, the government has also rolled out vaccinations to boost people's immunity against COVID-19 as well as curb the number of deaths, he added.

From the end of June until the middle of July this year, the COVID-19 death toll in Indramayu has remained above 10 per day. On July 8, 2021, the area recorded as many as 22 deaths.

"But the number of deaths is declining at the moment. Yesterday, it was 10 cases in a day, now it is only four cases," Koswara said.

He said he hopes the people will strengthen their discipline in obeying the health protocols and participate in the government's vaccination program so that infections and deaths can continue to decline.

If the people continue to disobey the government's guidelines for preventing COVID-19, then this would add to the burden on health workers and volunteer undertakers, such as Yani, he added.

If people do not follow the health protocols and participate in the vaccination program, then the pandemic will not end anytime soon, he stressed.

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Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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