We need special approaches focusing on reducing mortality rate
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Chief of the expert team of the National COVID-19 Response Task Force Prof. Wiku Adisasmito on Thursday outlined several reasons for COVID-19-related deaths in Indonesia for which citizens need to stay alert.

"We need special approaches focusing on reducing mortality rate," he said in an online press statement released on BNPB's Youtube channel in Jakarta on Thursday evening.

The high mortality rate in several parts of Indonesia may be the result of several problems, including fully-booked hospitals, lack of equipment at referral hospitals, lack of isolation centers, and inefficient use of isolation centers.

“Or it can be late treatment of residents exposed to COVID-19 as rural command posts or task forces did not function well,” Adisasmito said.

Regional governments must not merely understand regional data, but also link the data to one another to see the real cause of death, he said.

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He said the interrelated data include relations between deaths and the situation that has the potential to cause a high mortality rate. The data are related to bed occupancy rate at isolation centers and availability of medical equipment at health service facilities, he informed.

In addition, the regional governments also need to link data on deaths with availability and utilization of centralized isolation points and even the number of task force command posts, and the realization of the command posts up to the neighborhood association/ community group level, he said.

“The regional governments must start reviewing the characteristics of (COVID-19-related) deaths in their respective region based on age group and symptom severity," he added.

All regional heads must find information on the cause of deaths and relate it to the condition and capacity of their region to identify the root of the problem and make improvements, he said.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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