Indonesia’s true coronavirus death toll could be over 2,000 higher, data shows

Data from Indonesia’s 16 provinces shows 2,212 patients with Covid-19 symptoms died, but were not tested and recorded as victims

This comes as burials in Jakarta are up 40 per cent, and nearly 20,000 suspected cases have not been tested because of laboratory delays

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A municipality worker walks among graves at a cemetery complex for coronavirus victims in Jakarta. The country’s official death toll is 765 but data suggests it is much higher. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:55am, 28 Apr 2020Updated: 3:13pm, 29 Apr 2020

More than 2,200 Indonesians have died with acute symptoms of Covid-19 but were not recorded as victims of the disease, a Reuters review of data from 16 of the country’s 34 provinces showed.

Three medical experts said the figures indicated the national death toll was likely to be much higher than the official figure of 765.

Indonesia has one of the lowest testing rates in the world and some epidemiologists say that has made it harder to get an accurate picture of the extent of infections in the world’s fourth most populous country.

Health care workers take a swab sample of a worker during a Covid-19 test in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters

The most current data from the 16 provinces shows there were 2,212 deaths of patients under supervision because they have acute coronavirus symptoms. Indonesia’s health ministry uses the acronym PDP to classify these patients when there is no other clinical explanation for their symptoms.

The data is collated by provincial agencies daily or weekly from figures supplied by hospitals, clinics and officials overseeing burials. It was obtained by Reuters by checking websites, talking to provincial officials and reviewing World Health Organisation (WHO) reports.

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