Shortages of beds and oxygen as Covid variant reaches areas with weaker healthcare systems
Scenes that have for months haunted hospitals across Indonesia’s Java island are appearing across the country, as the Delta variant spreads to new provinces, causing shortages of beds and oxygen.
Images have circulated on social media of overstretched hospitals in both Papua and Kalimantan. One video shows a patient lying inside an ambulance, with two of his relatives sitting next to him. “The people need help. [I] have brought them to hospitals but all of them rejected us. [The hospitals] said there is no oxygen. How come the government can’t provide oxygen?” the ambulance driver, who recorded the video, can be heard saying. The Twitter account reported that the patient finally died.
