Corona in Indonesia: “It has never been as bad as it is now”

18,000 islands, 270 million inhabitants: Indonesia is a huge country in which medical help can only reach Covid sufferers with difficulty in many places. Now the delta variant is spreading massively.

Six men in white protective suits slide a coffin into the ground while a large excavator is digging the next hole next to them. The authorities are currently reporting record numbers of dead and infected.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, it has never been as bad as it is now,” warns Jan Gelfand, head of the Red Cross in Indonesia. The positive rates are enormous: “In some regions, out of ten people you test, nine are positive.”

The situation in more and more hospitals is worsening. Sri Dewi, who is standing by her brother’s grave, told a news agency: “Yesterday we took him to the hospital, but there were no beds available, there was no oxygen either. So we took him home, bought oxygen bottles and him Treated at home. ” But they couldn’t help him anymore.

Oxygen price doubled

The prices for oxygen have doubled in the meantime and are sold out in many places, says a shop owner: “Oxygen bottles are getting harder and harder to get. We still have oxygen to fill up. But I’m afraid that if the demand continues to be so high, we will too go out. ”

In the meantime, the government has given assurances that it will provide supplies. The Red Cross is currently also supplying the hospitals with oxygen. In front of some clinics in Jakarta there are tents for the many patients.

Delta and mobility after Ramadan are drivers of the pandemic

One reason for the dramatic increase in numbers is the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. A second is the increased mobility after the fasting month of Ramadan.

President Joko Widodo was now forced to impose a two-week lockdown on Java and Bali. From this weekend it will be more difficult to travel, schools and shopping centers will have to close. Companies send 75 percent of their workforce back to the home office. In addition, young people can now also be vaccinated.

“The youth must be protected. There are a lot of young people in Jakarta. I think if we vaccinate them, we will help the government to achieve herd immunity earlier,” says math teacher Seto Marsudi of the Reuters news agency, who teaches at a school in Jakarta . But currently only five percent of the population are fully vaccinated.

“The logistics are extremely difficult”

Jan Gelfand from the Red Cross defends the government. Indonesia consists of around 18,000 islands. “The logistics are extremely difficult. There is no plane going anywhere, some islands can only be reached by boat, others are very inaccessible.” This also complicates the cold chain for the vaccine.

The government still wants to accelerate the vaccination rate – this month vaccinate one million of the more than 270 million inhabitants every day. In sports stadiums like those on the outskirts of Jakarta, thousands of people are queuing for a vaccination. They hope to be able to protect themselves from a severe corona course in this way.