Netizens Cry Foul Over Video On Body of Suspected Covid-19 Patient Buried By Villagers As Death Toll Increases To 58 Today In Indonesia

By Mohd Shukri Ishak JAKARTA, March 25 (Bernama) -- A video on the remains of woman wrapped in plastic sheets according to the COVID-19 death management procedure that was sent back to her family for burial, which was conducted by the villagers, has gone viral on social media in Indonesia. According to the local media, the incident, which occurred in Southeast Sulawesi, had caused anxiety among netizens, as the funeral, including burial, was carried out by family members and villagers. The woman, from Kolaka, Southeast Sulawesi, was reported to be a COVID-19 suspect, and died at the Bahteramas Hospital at 2 pm last Monday. The hospitals’ acting director, Dr Sjarif Subijakto, was reported by the local media as saying that the woman, identified only as Rahmah, was suffering from brochopneumonia. The woman was admitted to hospital on March 22 for shortness of breath and died due to brochopneumonia, he said. He said the hospital had sent the woman’s blood samples to Jakarta for analysis, but had yet to receive the result. Indonesia’s spokesman on COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, at a press conference Wednesday, did not mention any death due to COVID-19 in Southeast Sulawesi. However, he said, the number of due to COVID-19 in Indonesia increased to 58 cases, from 55 cases Tuesday. “There are 105 new positive cases, bringing the total number of cases in Indonesia to 790,” he added. On the fatalities due to the virus, he said Jakarta recorded the highest, with 31 cases, West Java (10), Central Java (four), Banten (four), two each in Bali and Yogyakarta, and one each in the Riau Islands, East Java, South Sumatra, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi. -- BERNAMA