Andrianto died at the age of 38 last week at Dr. Soetomo Regional General Hospital (RSUD) in Surabaya, East Java, after being treated for about 15 days for COVID-19.

Hailing from Malang, East Java, Andrianto’s last deployment was at RSUD Soeradji Tirtonegoro in Klaten, Central Java.

“Please pray for and forgive Dr. Andrianto Purnawan,” IDI spokesperson Halik Malik said as quoted by antaranews.com on Thursday.

Halik said Andrianto, who was active in the association’s COVID-19 task force, was also directly involved in collecting funds for protective health equipment from various parties and promoting coronavirus prevention efforts through writing and online discussions. 

He added that Andrianto had long been known for his active involvement in a Muslim student health institution and various disaster social services in Indonesia. “It’s really a great loss for all of us,” Halik said.

Earlier this month, the association’s mitigation team announced that a total of 282 medical workers had died of COVID-19.

“They comprised 159 doctors, nine dentists and 114 nurses,” the association’s mitigation team leader, Adib Khumaidi, said as quoted by kompas.com recently.

Adib said the doctors included 84 general practitioners, 73 specialists and two residents. They came from 20 provinces and 71 cities/regencies.

Based on provinces, he added, East Java lost the most with 36 doctors, followed by Jakarta with 26, North Sumatra 24, West Java 12 and Central Java with 11.

Read also: Medical association records 282 healthcare worker deaths due to COVID-19

“During the current pandemic, medical workers are heroes in the real sense of the word. They are courageous and strong in a time of fear,” Adib said.

Responding to the fact, the Indonesian Doctors Council (KKI) has reportedly announced its commitment to accelerate regulations related to the creation of new medical workers to fulfill the need.

“We will try to accelerate regulations to create new doctors, dentists, and specialists so that the need will be fulfilled,” said KKI chairman Putu Moda Arsana.

The KKI would cooperate with the Education and Culture Ministry, Health Ministry and the academic hospital association to discuss the matter, he added.

He said there were currently some 230,000 doctors and dentists — comprising 149,231 general practitioners, 42,528 specialist doctors, 34,466 dentists and 4,480 specialist dentists.

Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy had previously asked the IDI to be responsible for protecting all doctors. 

“I ask the IDI to spearhead protections for the safety of its members. That is part of the association’s responsibility,” he said. 

IDI chairman Daeng M. Faqih had said the said team would find the root cause of the problem, as well as look for a solution to overcome the matter. He added that the IDI had worked closely with the national COVID-19 task force and the Health Ministry to provide personal protective equipment and free swab tests for healthcare workers.  

He said he would coordinate with both the task force and the ministry to rearrange working hours for healthcare workers to reduce their chances of contracting the virus. 

“The longer the working hours, the more they will be exposed to the virus. Moreover, they will feel more tired too, which increases the risk of getting the virus,” Daeng said. (swa)

 

Editor’s note: This article is part of a public campaign by the COVID-19 task force to raise people’s awareness about the pandemic.