Ambulance driver Bambang Siswoyo, 46, was suspected of having COVID-19 in July when he developed asthma so bad that his wife had to help him get up in the mornings. A chest X-ray showed white spots on his lungs. He was swab-tested, but the results never came back to him as "they were lost", he said quoting health authorities.

Siswoyo, who since 2004 has been working for a community health center (Puskesmas) in Sidoarjo, East Java, one of Indonesia's epicenters of the outbreak, spent over two weeks, until August, isolating himself in his kost (rooming house).

He lives in a 4 meter by 4 m room, which he rents for about Rp 250,000 (US$16.81) per month. It has one small bed that he shares with his wife and son — who refused to take refuge at their relatives' houses while Siswanto was in isolation.

"We couldn't keep a distance from each other and we slept on the same bed [...] I took up the space at the foot [of the bed]," Siswanto said, adding that he worried about infecting his family members.

Before going into self-isolation, Siswoyo had been transporting confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients to hospitals. He said he had to shower up to five times a day to make sure he did not transmit the virus to his family.

"It was suggested that I isolate in a hospital, but I've heard from other people that I would have to pay [the medical bills]. I was afraid because I don’t have any savings, so I rejected the suggestion,” he said. “I was afraid that if something came up, I would have to pay for photocopies [of administrative documents] because I didn't have money at all at the time. I had to borrow money even for food.”

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