The mitigation team of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) has revealed that 504 health workers succumbed to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as of late December, 2020.
The medical workers comprised 237 doctors, 15 dentists, 1,717 nurses, 64 midwives, 7 pharmacists, and 10 medical laboratory officers, according to data from the association obtained here on Saturday.
The doctors comprised 101 general practitioners four of whom were professors, and 131 specialists, seven of whom were professors and five residents. They belonged to 25 IDI provincial chapters and 102 IDI district/municipal chapters.
The COVID-19 mortality rate among Indonesian medical workers has been the highest in Asia, the IDI noted adding, Indonesian is among the top five countries in the world in terms of the mortality of medical workers.
Chief of the IDI mitigation team, Dr. Adib Khumaidi, Sp.OT, said the increase in medical workers' mortality rate is a result of rising activity and mobility among the people during the holidays and simultaneous regional head elections, among other occasions.
"Vaccination is a preventive and not curative effort. Although a vaccine is available and vaccination will be conducted, we call on the public to continue to follow stringent health protocols now that the risk of contracting the virus has reached the highest level where the COVID-19 positive ratio is 29.4 percent. The situation will get more uncontrollable if the public does not help by complying with the health protocols of 3Ms (washing hands, wearing masks, and keeping physical distancing," he remarked.
In addition, the IDI has also appealed to the government and the managements of health facilities to pay attention to the availability of personal protective equipment for health workers and conduct urine tests to monitor their current health condition.
The protection of medical workers is absolutely vital since they are at the forefront of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Khumaidi said. (INE)
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